Random Excellence: Friedlander in Adams Land

Until I ran across it while browsing at the Fraenkel Gallery site, I had no idea that Lee Friedlander had treated this motif. What a delight.

Fraenkel has a nice selection of Friedlanders online, from the 1950s to now.

_______________________

Mike

Follow-up: Rats, I thought the Adams and the Friedlander were taken at the same place. Wrong-O. Turns out the Friedlander is Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta, and the Adams is Tenaya Lake in the Yosemite Valley in California. Kinda takes the fun out of it, although it's pretty close visually. Thanks to Peter Robinson for setting me straight. —MJ

Comments

[dyathink]

I was recently in the Arcana Bookstore in Santa Monica and was privileged to view several of Friedlander's more obscure titles and i was blown away at the width and breadth of his subject matter. I really enjoyed his more "conventional" bodies of work. "Cherry Blossom Time in Japan" was just beautiful.

[Mike]

"'Cherry Blossom Time in Japan' was just beautiful."

Dyathink,
One of the few books I've added to my collection this year.

Mike J.

[David]

Ha...even curators make mistakes. You could say that everything's been done, that itch is important to remember and then forget. We all need to banish that from our minds.

I think it can be a very healthy thing for artists to stop looking at other people's work..just stop for a while and see what it brings. The immediacy of the internet presents an interesting danger, IMO. That danger (my term) lies in the possibility of homogenizing local culture, perspective, tradition, music, art etc. everything. I and we, have always been fascinated by particular geographic/cultural specifics. Music, art, writing, painting, truck design, use of the black bean...from chicago, boston, the UK, L.A., Brazil, France, Japan...those particular differences in geographical treatment need to survive. The internet has created a situation that puts those delightful differences on the block.

It's a very "ok" Lee image. In my opinion there are several much more interesting country landscapes in that section which dwells on a the later period of his life's work. If it was my work I would have placed that image in the "not triumphant" pile.

It's so not the same image as the image that I mentioned in my sarcastic post in another entry. Thanks Mike, I'm glad for your interest in challenging people in a productive way. It's amusing that you sit there in your control room and tickle the readers and critics. I like it. No I'm not kissing your butt, I think you manage things with a rare even and humorous hand.

As far as this motif and my mention of it..You can see, in this image, where Lee is attempting to wring out his own perspective on this setting. He's doing his best to flatten this

It's not the same as the regurgitated treatment of this motif that we see whipped to death all over the internet. Should this motif be placed on the list of cliches that photographers should be spanked for approaching? Nope, there is nothing on that list, what they should be spanked for is allowing themselves to approach this, or any motif with their brains turned off. I love that folks are out shooting what they like..it just gets a bit tedious to take in the levels of regurgitated treaments of motifs like this..Ok there is one motif that should be banned...Antelope Canyon : )

Just kidding, shoot away, people.

[Peter Robinson]

Am I missing the point? The Friedlander is of Lake Louise and the Adams is of Tenaya Lake. Are we just talking lakes here?

[Mike]

"The Friedlander is of Lake Louise and the Adams is of Tenaya Lake."

Oh, rats, I thought it was the same place. Oh well, looks similar anyway.

Mike J.

[Paul G.]

Peter has pointed out that the location is Lake Louise. The photo is, in fact, taken from the lawn right in front of the majestic Chateau Lake Louise, one of the great historic CP hotels along the Trans-Canada railway similar to Banff Springs. And one of the great over-photographed (and easily accessible) locations of the Canadian Rockies along with Peyto Lake and the Valley of Ten Peaks.

In my younger days, I have been fortunate enough to climb Mt. Victoria, the wonderful mountain in the background beyind the Lake. The climb follows the ridge from Abbott Pass from left to right across the photo to the summit. The view from the ridge is spectular, as on your right in the Valley of Death and beyond Lake Louise, and on your left a cliff face with Lake O'Hara at the bottom, the hidden jewel of the Canadian Rockies. Access to Lake O'Hara is controlled, but it is also a popular destination. Bruno Engler was a photographer who worked in the Canadian Rockies and documented many spectular locations, even if he perhaps lacked the polish and artistic vision of Adams.

I was also confused at first, as always thought of Ansel Adams as the great iconic photographer of America's national parks and monuments. I have never seen an Adams Print of a Canadian location. As a fan of Ansel Adams work, this strikes me as rather odd. I guess sorrounded by the beauty of Yosemite and western US he had enough material for a lifetime.

[Moose]

As long as we are being accurate about locations, Tenaya Lake is not in Yosemite Valley, although it is in Yosemite NP not far from the valley.

It is at the head of one canyon that leads down to Yosemite Valley and its outlet, Tenaya creek, joins the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

It is, however, something like 8 miles from the valley as the crow flies, longer by trail, much further by road that goes way around and 4,000 feet higher in elevation than the valley.

Moose

[John Roberts]

"Over-photographed"?