The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

A funeral for an officer killed in the line of duty

1976

Leonard Freed

(American, 1929–2006)

America, 20th century

Vintage gelatin silver print

Image: 15.7 x 23.9 cm (6 3/16 x 9 7/16 in.); Paper: 20.3 x 25.2 cm (8 x 9 15/16 in.)

Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2015.405

© Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Location

not on view

Inscriptions

Inscription

Written in red pencil in upper right corner on recto: "120" Imprinted in black type on white paper label adhered to verso: "(bar code) S00099505_d FRL1979007 W00039/26 NYC40674/©Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos/USA. Book: "Police Work."/USA. New York City. 1979. A funeral for an officer killed in the line of duty./No photograph or digital file may be reproduced, cropped or modified (digitally or otherwise) and its caption may not be altered without prior written/agreement from Magnum or a Magnum representative." Written in black ink on verso: "New York City/Police after a policemans funeral" Written in pencil on verso: "50308" Stamped in black ink on verso: "51744" Written in pencil on verso: "Book: "Police Work"/1979 NEW YORK CITY, USA" Written in pencil on verso: "79-7-39-26" Written in pencil on verso: "UNIQUE VINTAGE PRINT (stamped in black ink)" Written in pencil on verso: "Leonard Freed (signed)" Stamped in black ink on verso: "© Leonard Freed-Magnum" Written in pencil on verso: "LF-PW-120.01" Imprinted in black type on white adhesive label on verso (partially covered by paper label): "Law Enforcement/CROWDS, PARADES, RIOTS/AND DEMONSTRATOINNS" Written in black ink on verso (partially covered by paper label): "Law Enforcement" Stamped in purple ink on verso (partially covered by paper label): "©Leonard Freed-Magnum" Written in black ink on verso (partially covered by paper label): "79-7-39-26"

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.”
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.405