Episode 22 / Passing By

At first glance, Lee Friedlander’s 1962 photograph seems almost uneventful. Six people stand outside a photography studio in Newark, New Jersey, all looking beyond the edge of the frame. But the longer we remain with the image, the more subtle relationships begin to emerge: repeated gestures, shared gazes, architecture, signs and photographs within photographs.

In this episode, we explore how Friedlander looked beyond individual subjects to notice the quiet connections that briefly unite people and places. More than a photograph about a city sidewalk, Passing By becomes an invitation to slow down, look more carefully, and discover how walking itself can transform the way we see the ordinary.

Sometimes the most interesting subject isn’t a person or a place, but the quiet relationship that briefly forms between them.

Lee Friedlander (born 1934) is one of the most influential American photographers of the twentieth century. Throughout a career spanning more than six decades, he has explored the complexity of everyday life through layered compositions that encourage viewers to discover relationships rather than isolated subjects.

The photograph discussed in this episode was made in Newark, New Jersey, in 1962, during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. Although history quietly inhabits the image, Friedlander offers no explanation or conclusion. Instead, he trusts the viewer to notice how people, architecture, signs and photographs unexpectedly come together for a brief moment before drifting apart again. It is a way of seeing that resonates closely with the experience of walking itself.

View Newark, New Jersey, 1962 by Lee Friedlander on the Fraenkel Gallery website.

Sources & Further Reading

Images & Works

Lee Friedlander. Newark, New Jersey. 1962. Gelatin silver print. Fraenkel Gallery.

Lee Friedlander. New York City. 1966. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.

Lee Frielander. Artist Page. International Center for Photography (ICP).

Texts & Ideas

John Szarkowski. Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960. Museum of Modern Art, 1978.

Peter Galassi. Lee Friedlander. Museum of Modern Art, 2005.

Lee Friedlander. Self Portrait. Haywire Press, 1998.

John Szarkowski. Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Museum of Modern Art, 1973.