id: 291579 accession number: 2016.290 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.290 updated: 2024-06-08 12:27:24.831000 The little church "The Moving Star Hall" on Johns Island, South Carolina, 1964. Leonard Freed (American, 1929–2006). Vintage gelatin silver print; image: 16.1 x 24 cm (6 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.); paper: 20 x 25.2 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg 2016.290 © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos title: The little church "The Moving Star Hall" on Johns Island, South Carolina title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1964 creation date earliest: 1964 creation date latest: 1964 current location: creditline: Gift of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg copyright: © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos --- culture: America technique: vintage 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: 16.1 x 24 cm (6 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.); Paper: 20 x 25.2 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in purple marker on verso: “10 [crossed out in black marker]” Written in pencil on verso: “LFBWA-210/6000 pg 16” Written in black marker on verso: “U.S.A. 5.2.” Imprinted in black type on white paper label on verso: “MAGNUM/72 West 46 Street, New York, New York 10036/LEONARD FREED USA 1964 [written in pencil]/The little church “The Moving Star/Hall” on Johns Island, South Carolina./photo from the book: Leonard Freed/”black in white america.”/R173 36 [crossed out in pencil] OLD # [written in pencil]/63-17-2-37 [written in pencil]” Written in black marker on verso: “63.17.2.37 p16” Stamped in black ink on verso: “30 [crossed out in blue marker]” Written in pencil on verso: “R17B/36A” Written in pencil on verso: “1964 Vintage/Print/1964 South Carolina/USA” Stamped in blue ink on verso: “TIRAGE ARCHIVE MAGNUM PHOTOS/5, PASSAGE PIVER 75001 PARIS/EPREUVE A RENDRE/MAGNUM PARIS LIBRARY/PRINT TO BE RETURNED” Stamped in black ink on verso: “VINTAGE PRINT” Written in pencil on verso: “Leonard Freed (signed)” Stamped in black ink on verso: “© Leonard Freed-Magnum” Written in pencil on verso: “Book: Black in White America” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES