Social Landscape

1. Social Landscape Lee Friedlander Robert Frank Danny Lyons

2. What is Social Landscape? Social[adjective] - relating to society or its organization - relating to rank and status in society Landscape [noun] - all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal - a picture representing an area of countryside - the distinctive features of a sphere of activity (Oxford Dictionary Definitions)

3. What is Social Landscape? • The co-ordination and relationship between places and people. • Somewhere that people use. • Definition of our social connections and our world around us.

4. What is included in a ‘social landscape’ photograph? • The photographer, the subject, the viewer. • A scene/setting – the landscape. • Person(s), a personality. • Belongings of someone, showing interaction with the surroundings.

5. Lee Friedlander • An American artist and photographer. • Born 1934, studied photography at college in California. • His photography career began in 1956, photographing jazz musicians in New York City • Well known for his work in social landscape in 1948. • His images focused on the appearance of contemporary society. • Lee also explored self portraiture in 1960s where he projected his own shadows into his photographs or incorporated his reflection.

7. Robert Frank • An American photographer and film maker. • Born 1924, grew up with the threat of Nazism so turned to photography. • Received a grant in 1995 from the ‘John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation’ allowing him to travel and photograph. • Endured a series of road trips over 2 years, where he shot a huge number of films which were reduced down to 83 photos creating “The Americans”. Photographed the opposite to photojournalists, showing the reality and harshness of class, culture and wealth. • Jack Keouac said “Robert Frank…he sucked a sad poem right out of America onto film, taking rank among the tragic poets of the world.” • Initially received great amounts of criticism, however it is now well-known for this work. • A new edition of the photo book was released in 2008.

9. “Inside Photographer Robert Frank's The Americans” Narration by Sarah Greenough http://youtu.be/mHtRZBDOgag

10. Danny Lyons • Born 1942, studied an Arts degree at the University of Chicago. • After graduating in 1963, his first photographs were published whilst working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. • In 1967, Danny shot “The Bikeriders”, where he photographed motorcyclists in the American Midwest. He also joined the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club, following their lifestyle. • “An attempt to record and glorify the life of the American bike rider." • Following this, Danny went on to create “Conversations with the Dead” where he photographed in a number of prisons. • "Photography is a lonely journey – that's what Robert Frank said – you really have to be by yourself because you're trying to interact with reality. I put myself through an ordeal in order to create something."

12. "I spent 14 months talking to these guys. They broke my heart. Prison is one story after another, and every one breaks your heart. I was young enough then to care."

13. Connections between the person and place. • Demonstrates their personality and lifestyle. • Places people use on a day-to-day basis.

14. Any Questions?