Mahal Sourgose
Lee Friedlander "Shadows"
1966, Leica 35mm/Hasselblad Superwide
I believe that one of the most difficult subjects to photograph is people - naturally. I can't seem to take pictures of my friends without them posing in one unnatural way or another. The best photos - the ones that seem to best capture their aura - tend to be the candids. Often referred to as the 'no's or the 'delete's or the 'never post that's. The slurping of the soup, the hunching over the computer, the next step of the dance move. The pictures that we all love of other people because "it's totally them" are the very ones that they hate.
Ever since I was introduced to Lee Friedlander's "Shadows", I was enamored by its simple, humorous, and human quality. In the series as a whole, Friedlander projects himself onto strangers and random places. By inserting himself into the photograph, he creates a narrative with a completely different plot than one without his presence - he becomes apart of the story. His shadow, this extension of himself, becomes a character with a mind of its own; the protagonist of its own mini-story.
Whilst the other person or the place remains natural and oblivious, Friedlander transforms, becoming the unaware passerby, the nosy jerk, the posing human.
