Homage to Lee Friedlander

from Los Angeles Series 2005, by Walt Opie

Courtesy of Museum of Modern Art

"Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1972," by Lee Friedlander. He said he deliberately includes "those poles and trees and stuff" that other photographers avoid.

The top photo is my tribute to the work of Lee Friedlander, and especially to the photo by him above, which is currently on display at SF MoMA. I went to see the show on Sunday, and it was my idea of a great show--400 images by the master. My only complaint is that I would have been happy to look at three times that many prints.

Of course my image pales when placed next to his, but this was the best way to show how they are related. Everything in his frame echoes the open mouth of the dog, and everything in my image echoes the walking man's legs. What I think makes mine work is the sandwich board and the walking man sign cut off at the legs in the upper left corner. I also enjoy that my shot has the top of the stop sign in it, and his doesn't, which highlights what he intentionally cut off.

I'm not trying to compare myself to Lee Friedlander (my image here isn't even sharp), but rather I'm just having some fun and pointing out one of my heroes. There are several other things similar about these two photos though--can you spot them?

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Los Angeles Photo Project

These are photos* I took in the greater Los Angeles area in 2005 on two different visits. I'm thinking of turning a group of these images into a small book or even exhibit somewhere. Showing them here seemed like an easy place to start. I welcome any comments. To me Los Angeles is one of the most natural places to take pictures--the light there is great, and it has its own sophisticated urban California color palette.

(*All photos are by Walt Opie and may not be reproduced without my permission.)

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Me and Pop-Eye

This is me with my long-haired mini-Dachsund Pop-Eye, who likes to hang on to things even when he should probably let go. Hmm, that sounds like something to take note of... Incidentally, Pop-Eye was not harmed in the making of this photo. In fact, he had a blast.

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