id: 86268 accession number: 2016.437 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.437 updated: 2024-03-26 01:55:56.452000 Armenian priests perform a yearly religious service, Jerusalem, Israel, 1967. 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 25.3 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2016.437 © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos title: Armenian priests perform a yearly religious service, Jerusalem, Israel title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1967 creation date earliest: 1967 creation date latest: 1967 current location: creditline: Gift of George Stephanopoulos copyright: © Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos --- culture: America, 20th century 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 25.3 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on verso: “LFEAS-45.2” Written in black ink on verso: “14F” Written in red marker on verso: “FREED Panel 4” Written in black ink on white adhesive sticker on verso: “P-4/B-129” Written in pencil on verso: “1967 Israel/Vintage Print” Written in pencil on verso: “UNIQUE” 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 Imprinted on paper label on verso: “MAGNUM/72 West 45 Street, New York, New York 10036/LEONARD FREED 1967 [written in pencil]/Israel/The church of the tomb of the virgin/in the Old City of Jerusalem./photo from the book: Leonard Freed/”Isaac the son of Abraham, Jacob the son of Isaac”./x217-26 [crossed out] = old #/67-33-2-26 [written in black ink]” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES