Lee Friedlander is probably the only photographer who could capture fascinating images of pickup trucks. The seventy-seven photos, taken between 1963 and 2016, all have part of a truck in them and sometimes the complete vehicle.
I've always loved the way he layers his compositions, there's something in every foreground, middle and distance. The foreground captures the back of a pickup, at various angles, containing an assortment of tires (lots of these) tradesmen's equipment but also, in one shot, a caged leopard and another a little boy sitting in a corner of the back. The middle features part of a highway with traffic or the rest of a parking lot. the distance reveals skyscrapers, churches, civic buildings, gas stations or houses. A pickup is just an element that ties all these American commonplace photos together and they succeed beautifully.
As well as great photos Steidl has excelled themselves with the production. Long-time Friedland collaborator Katy Homans has done an excellent book design, the paper is a lovely silky smooth matt art and tritone printing (three passes through the press to capture a proper black and mid tones) with a 175 screen, brings out all the detail. But it's the size of the photos that I liked, most of them are ten inches square with a generous margin.
Friedlander (and Steidl) continue to deliver beautiful photobooks.
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