id: 171842 accession number: 2014.586 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2014.586 updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:42.215000 Demonstrators at the March on Washington, on the Grass Field at the Washington Memorial, Washington, D.C., 1963. Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006). Gelatin silver print; image: 20.3 x 13.3 cm (8 x 5 1/4 in.); paper: 25.3 x 20.2 cm (9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2014.586 © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos title: Demonstrators at the March on Washington, on the Grass Field at the Washington Memorial, Washington, D.C. title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1963 creation date earliest: 1963 creation date latest: 1963 current location: creditline: Gift of George Stephanopoulos copyright: © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos --- culture: America, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006) - artist Born in Brooklyn to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent, Leonard Freed (1929–2006) went to Europe to become a painter but instead discovered photography. After studying the medium in New York City, he worked as a documentary photographer and photojournalist in Europe. In 1972 he joined Magnum, the celebrated collaborative photo agency. Freed’s photographs in this exhibition are from Black in White America, a series inspired by an experience he had while covering the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. As he photographed an African American soldier guarding the border, it struck Freed that this man was risking his life to defend a country that limited his own rights. Freed returned to New York to undertake a multiyear exploration of African American life. Freed began shooting around New York, and then traveled extensively throughout the South. He spent time in communities getting to know his subjects, and kept a journal recording his impressions and their stories and words. During these years, he also covered Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous civil rights events, but when Freed published Black in White America in 1968, the book focused instead on the fabric of daily life. As a photojournalist, Freed was an observer rather than a participant, but not an impartial one. He believed that “photography is about who you are. It’s the seeking of truth in relation to yourself.” --- measurements: Image: 20.3 x 13.3 cm (8 x 5 1/4 in.); Paper: 25.3 x 20.2 cm (9 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on verso: "LFBWA-236" Written in pencil on verso: "6000" Stamped in blue ink on verso: "BLACKS: March on Washington 63 (written in pencil)" Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: "Consignment/#79110 jlm" Written in blue ink on verso: "Blacks/PROTEST (scribbled out in red marker)" Written in pencil on verso: "3025-c-76" Written in blue ink on verso: "62478" Written in pencil on verso: "66305" Written in pencil on verso: "UNIQUE" Stamped in black ink on verso: "VINTAGE PRINT" Written in pencil on verso: "1963 WASHINGTON, D.C., USA/8-28-1963 MARCH ON WASHING-/TON" Written in pencil on verso: "40336 (crossed out)" Stamped in black ink on verso: "MAGNUM/PHOTO LIBRARY PRINT/NEW YORK 20690 (written in pencil and crossed out)/39762 (written in pencil and crossed out)/26993 (written in pencil and crossed out)/26253 (written in pencil and underlined)/LOG REF. (stamped in black ink) 8051 (written in pencil and crossed out) 9735 (written in pencil and crossed out)/37282 (written in pencil and crossed out) TO BE RETURNED (stamped in black ink) 45147" Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso: "Consignment/#78292 LST" Written in pencil on verso: "Leonard Freed (signed)" Stamped in black ink on verso: "© Leonard Freed-Magnum" Written in pencil on verso: "1963 WASHINGTON, D.C.-USA BOOK "BLACK IN WHITE AMERICA" Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label adhered to white paper label on verso: "BLACKS/March on/Washington 1963" Imprinted in black type on white paper label adhered to verso with scotch tape: "LEONARD FREED USA/CIV: 14 (written in black marker)/Demonstrators at the March on/Washington, August 1963 on the/grass field at the Washington/Memorial, /079-11 (crossed out in pencil) =old # (written in pencil)" Stamped in black ink (and partially hidden by paper label): "LEONARD" Written in pencil on verso and partially hidden by paper label: "079" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES