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Mar 4, 2016

The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him

1976

Leonard Freed

(American, 1929–2006)

America, 20th century

Vintage gelatin silver print

Image: 15 x 22.6 cm (5 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.); Paper: 17.8 x 23.9 cm (7 x 9 7/16 in.); Image with black margin: 15.3 x 22.9 cm (6 x 9 in.)

Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2015.403

Location

not on view

Artist biography

Leonard Freed

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.”

Inscriptions

Inscription

Imprinted in purple type on verso: "New York's Ninth Police Stations the home of Kojak. March 79 # 79-29/The 9th Precinct runs from 14th Street down Houston and broadway to the east River , /the area is an ugly and terrifying place which is the home of the terrorists of the/Puerto Rican F.A.L.N. , the Black Liberation army, and HQ of NY's Hell's Angels. It/is the worst block in the city, with its stinking tenemants with no hest, burnt out/buildings, drunken derelicts and junkies, muggers and rapists. You would not want to / be in the 9th Precinct after dark if you could help it . To tv viewers around the /world ,Kojak has brought them the realities of crime in the big cities, also this police station is where Kojak is filmed. Psycho stabbers roam the dark streets and since 1967 over 3,000 policeman have been killed in America in the performance of their duties, and not one perpetrator has gone to the electric chair. In NY alone there are over 2,000 homicides a year and some cops feel it's time for a return to /vigilantes and frontier justice./(NYTimes Magazine 21 January 1979) Photos by Leonard Freed/ MAGNUM." On verso: written in pencil " 1978 NEW YORK city.USA. / BOOK : "Police WORK " . / Signed by artist in pencil " Leonard Freed". Black ink stamp: " © Leonard Freed-Magnum" . Black ink stamp: "VINTAGE PRINT" /Written in pencil"78-9-25-33". Written in pencil " LF-PW-090-02". Written in pencil:"2a"with a circle drawn around it. Written in blue pen: " Valsloma 2/80" A purple ink stamp: " Photo.2./ (78.9.25/33) a man being being booked at the NY 9th Precinct , nearby the/tools of his trade. He was caught in a shop after breaking through the wall/from the shop next door. The box contains hammers and other tools . On the wall below the US flag are plaques to those police officers killed in the precinct during the past few years." There are two small adhesive labels adhered to the bottom verso of image; one with black imprint: " PALAUTEAAN";and one with red imprint: " PALAUTETAAN/Suomen Kuvapalvelu Oy/Maistraatinportti 1,00240 Helsinki".

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{{cite web|title=The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.403|author=Leonard Freed|year=1976|access-date=30 May 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him

The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him

Leonard Freed

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Leonard Freed

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The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him

The burglar, caught in the process of breaking through a brick wall between one shop and another, asked that the tools of his trade be returned to him

Leonard Freed

Location

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Leonard Freed

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