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Rathole Gallery is now showing a selection of photographs Lee Friedlander has taken during Cherry Blossom Time in Japan over the past few decades. There is really nothing more to add than to say that if you ever have the chance to see Friedlander prints in person, you should do so. The pictures are wonderful.

With sincere gratitude to Onishi sensei, I was able to come along with him to the opening reception at Rathole last night. Getting to see Friedlander’s work in person is one thing, and it is an experience made that much more exciting by getting to see Him in person soon after.

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I did bring my copy of Self Portrait, not because of an expectation that it would be signed, but because if in fact he was signing books, I would have kicked myself for not bringing it. However, Mr. Friedlander was quite approachable and I went home with his signature in the book. Our brief conversation was centered around some of the shots he had taken in the Nebraska Sandhills. The guy is pure class and genuine. Actually, considering the Fashion People crowd that surrounded him, he was the most genuine fellow in the gallery. As the evening went on it was less a photo exhibition and more of a scene. Complete with scenesters. It was kind of a surreal experience.
There were some Big Names of the Japanese photo world there, and some gaijin who would not leave poor Lee alone. I stood near one dude as he played his game like this:

“So like, were you in uh, Magnum?”

Lee: “Nah. I always worked alone”

“hey can I get your email I have some photo projects we could work together on”

Lee: “Nah, I don’t have email. I have… LEE-Mail” (YES!)

“Oh thats cool man thats cool hey so like my project is blah blah Tokyo blah People blah you could shoot in America and me in Tokyo blah blah”

to which Mr. Friedlander kind of cocked his head and said in his perfect for radio voice “Nah…. I do alright by myself” and the game ended with that. It was great.
Another bloke brought TWO SHOPPING BAGS of Friedlander books to get signed. Seriously. Do major photographers have shopping bags of books dumped on tables by fans at their own openings in New York? He played it nice and signed them though.

Oh yeah, and Art Guy was there too. I saw him corner the guest of honor at his table for a while and after a few minutes, Lee walked over to another part of the area. Seemingly unshaken by this, Art Guy soon started a conversation with a German about how he went to Yale.

He was shooting lots of pictures like above, with his camera held out and pointed back at him. go figure, right? For those who might be wondering, he had a black Bessa R3 or R4 with a Zeiss 28 or 25mm lens and a funky little flash attachment which he used every other minute or so. In the train on the way home I kinda wished I had asked what film he was shooting.