Lee Friedlander: 15 Photographs (1973)

From 1973 to 1974, Friedlander and his collaborative partner Burt Wolf edited four iconic portfolios at the Double Elephant Press in New York, featuring photographs by some of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century: Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, Garry Winogrand, and Friedlander himself. (The name, Double Elephant Press, is an allusion to the large size of the paper, which is known as a “double elephant folio.”) Each of the four limited edition portfolios contain fifteen photographs by each artist, representing their distinct visions and sensibilities. Taken as a whole, the endeavor represents a unique collaborative project that has become a touchstone in the history of photography.

In the introduction to 15 Photographs, Walker Evans writes: "Bemusing and sometimes dazzling are these prints. Seeing a brace of them, it becomes clear that this photographer artist is to be taken seriously even while he is grinning--because he uses photography with deadly aim to reflect and record only his own very special, personal vision of his world. It is oddly refreshing, unselfconsciously striking and unpredictably adventurous."

Edition Size: 75

Publisher: Double Elephant Press

Description: Case contains 15 signed, original, vintage prints; image size of prints ranges from 5¾ to 8⅜ in the short dimension and from 8⅞ to 12¾ in the long dimension, whether horizontal or vertical; printed by Friedlander

Details: Silver cloth case made by Rudolf Rieser, Cologne; paper handmade by J. Barcham Green Ltd. and embossed by Bob Blackburn Workshop; text sheets printed by Ronald Gordon, The Oliphant Press, New York; prints individually mounted on 4-play Strathmore Artist Bristol boards

Dimensions: 16 ⅜  x 21 x 1⅝ inches