Surrealism - Lee Friedlander

I would say that Friedlander is a different type of surreal style that I am looking in to. His main focus is on social landscapes in urban life, he does this by using reflections from store windows and structures which are framed by fences. Signs and posters are all combined in to his work to help capture life in it's modern form. What I would like to look in to more of the technical side of surrealism where Photoshop is used. I decide to do research on Friedlander because I like the idea that there was a concept behind all of his images and being at such an early stage in this project the more inspiration that I can get the better! I would like to do a shoot in the style of Lee Friedlander even though i'm not planning to do something like this, I would like to see if I could maybe create a similar style as it is something that interests me and could possible change the direction that I'm thinking of going in.

This image here is built up using leading lines. If you look at the manikins eyes, there is a point from a shadow on the right hand side which is level and pointing towards them. This shadow is therefore keeping your main focus looking at the top left hand corner. What I like the most about this image is how the photographer has used surrealism in a natural way and not used a dark room or Photoshop. He has shown that just by changing a few camera settings you can easily create something in one shot that you could create using tools off of Photoshop. Also what catches my eye's with this image is how smooth it looks. There isn't any type of rough texture in this image, it's been taken on a flat surface and I think the black and white has given it a deep kind of feel to it and he has really emphasized a low mood.

The angle that this image has been taken at directs the eyes from the bottom up to the top of the image. What also stands out for me is the building almost fits perfectly in to the manikins figure and that the manikins shoulders and head disappear in to the sky. I like the fact that the photographers images are in black and white and that you can't see people in the reflection, it makes me feel as if he's shooting in a ghost town. The building in the background look's quite rough and has a great urban look to it, I think the building stands out more in this image, usually in a lot of the photographers work he has the manikin being drawn in as the main focus and the buildings and shadows framing it but I feel as in this image it is the other way around.