1950's and 1960's

Documentary, Street and Fashion Photography 


Documentary and Street Photography

The late 1950's and 1960's were the prime years of street and documentary photographers such as Gary Winogrand and Lee Friedlander were taking over the art world with their photographs which still influence the great photographers of today.

Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander is known for his art in the 1960's and 1970's, like Winogrand, he created social documentary images in America, but Friedlander has his own distinguished style in his photographs and is known for the use of signs in his imagery.



The image above is a Friedlander image and the main feature of the image is the three woman in the centre of the the image, the shadows in this image look almost like stage lights drawing in on the women. The image is dated by the vechicle and the clothing, the woman are wearing short patterned dresses and heels and have their hair styled in a 'Beehive' which is an iconic 60's style therefore we get an idea of when the image was taken without any text. To the right of the image we see what appears to be a mother and her children waiting at the bus stop with the children looking at the women approaching. The family look like they are of a working class due to the clothing and the need for public transport whereas the woman in the image look of a middle class as they are appear to be shopping and are dressed in clothing that indicates some wealth.
The comparison of the two classes in the image is apparent and this appears to be intentional by the use of shadows, lighting and composition by Friedlander.

Gary Winogrand

Gary Winogrand is a photographer most known for his art in the 1960's and the way he documented the lifestyle of America during this time.
He re-shaped photography with his social documentary photographs which influenced the world of photography, documentary photography was becoming more of an art form with photographs of regular people opposed to world events such as wars.