Jill Freedman

Jill Freedman (October 19, 1939 – October 9, 2019) was an American documentary photographer and street photographer. She was based in New York City.

Early life and education Freedman was born in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh to a traveling salesman and a nurse. As an adult Freedman photographed extensively in Ireland, quipping "I'm Jewish, but I adopted Ireland as my own old country". In 1961, Freedman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in sociology. In 1964 Freedman came to New York City and had several temporary jobs including advertising copywriter. She only discovered photography while experimenting with a friend's camera. She ran out of money and sang to make a living; she continued singing in Paris and on a television variety show in London.

Freedman arrived in New York City in 1964, and worked in advertising and as a copywriter.

On hearing of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Freedman quit her job and went to Washington, DC. She lived in Resurrection City, a shantytown put up by the Poor People's Campaign on Washington Mall in 1968, and photographed there. Photographs from the series were published at the time in Life,

Freedman then lived in a Volkswagen kombi, following the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. She wanted to photograph the performers as people. ("If I wanted to do freaks, I'd do guys wearing ties in 100-degree weather – to me that's freaks."

The work was published as a book, Circus Days, in 1975.

Freedman photographed the then sleazy area of 42nd Street and the arts scene in Studio 54 and SoHo.

Some of the firefighters had previously been policemen, and they suggested that Freedman might photograph police work. For her series Street Cops (1978–1981), she accompanied the police to an area of New York City including Alphabet City and Times Square, spending time with those who seemed good cops.

During the seventies, Freedman was briefly associated with Magnum Photos, but did not become a member. She wanted to tell stories via photography, but also wanted to avoid the schmoozing required to get commissions; and she therefore set her own tasks.

In 1988, Freedman discovered that she was ill. The medical expenses meant that she had to leave her apartment above the Sullivan Street Playhouse; She also managed to publish a photobook of dogs that was praised for "[defying] the clichéd images" of dog photography. She also published the second of two photobooks of Ireland, one that Publishers Weekly said "lovingly captures the enduring aspects of Irish tradition".

Around 2003,efn-lr|"Five years ago", says a newspaper article published on April 27, 2008; "When I saw that they had turned 42nd Street into Disneyland. . . I just stood there and wept." When asked on another occasion, she approvingly cited Elliott Erwitt on not being boring and attempting to do excellent work; technical questions and even posterity should not be a concern. Together with Richard Kalvar, Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb, Maggie Steber and Matt Stuart, she was a featured guest in the Miami Street Photography Festival 2016 at HistoryMiami Museum during Art Basel week.

Grundberg wrote in 1982 that "Indignation over injustice is the major key in [Freedman's] work, admiration for life's survivors the minor key." especially her images of New York City, was the subject of renewed interest, appearing in multiple Vice articles, including their 2016 photography issue and at Art Basel Miami.

Personal life In her later life, Freedman lived in Harlem. 1974: New York State Council on the Arts, Creative Artists Public Service Program (CAPS) Photography Grant 1982: Leica Medal of Excellence (first recipient, with Jill Krementz and Mary Ellen Mark) 1994: Alicia Patterson Foundation, Fellowship for The Holocaust, 50 Years Later 2001: Royal Photographic Society, Honorary Fellowship

Exhibitions Solo exhibitions Jill Freedman: Pictures from New York, The Photographers' Gallery, London, March 1974. The Circus and Other Scenes, The Photographers' Gallery, London, June 1974. PhotoGraph Gallery, New York, January 1982. Street Cops, Nikon Salon, Ginza, Tokyo, 1985. Jill Freedman: 60's to the present, Witkin Gallery, New York City, December 1996 – January 1997. Laughter and Love: A Romp through Ireland, M. J. Ellenbogen Photography, White Plains, NY, March 2006. Here and There, A.M. Richard Fine Art, Brooklyn, New York, April–May 2007. Paired with an exhibition, Photographs of 42nd Street, by Andrew Garn. Resurrection City 1968, Higher Pictures, New York City, April–May 2008. Street Cops 1978–1981, Higher Pictures, New York City, September–October 2011. Street Cops, The President's Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, September–October 2012 Circus Days 1971, Higher Pictures, New York City, January–March 2013. Long Stories Short, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York City, September–October 2015. For the most part, previously unpublished examples of Freedman's earlier work. Resurrection City, 1968, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, 2017 Street Cops 1978–1981, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, September–October 2021. Firehouse: The Photography of Jill Freedman, New York City Fire Museum, 2022 – April 2023.

Group exhibitions Circus: The real people, Neikrug Galleries, New York City, May 1972. With Charles Reynolds. Rated X, Neikrug Galleries, New York City, June 1972. Third Eye Gallery, New York City, March 1976. Black and white photographs of New York; with Helen Buttfield, André Kertész, Ruth Orkin, and others. Street Kids, New York Historical Society, New York City, 1978. With Lewis W. Hine, Jacob Riis, Ben Shahn, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Bruce Davidson and Ken Heyman Manhattan Portraits, Federal Hall National Memorial, New York City, September 1984. With Laurence Fink, George Malave, Toby Old, Sy Rubin, Ed Fausty and Brian Rose. The Animal in Photography, 1843–1985, The Photographers' Gallery, London, June–September 1986. 2 Photographers – 5 Decades, PhotoGraphic Gallery, New York City, June–August 2006. With Arthur Lavine. Ireland, PhotoGraphic Gallery, New York City, January–February 2007. With Christy McNamara. Circus days, within Bêtes et hommes = Beasts and Men, Grande halle de la Villette, Paris, September 2007 – January 2008. Gertrude's/LOT, Pittsburgh Biennial, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, December 2011 – January 2012. Seriously, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York City, November 2016 – January 2017.

Collections Freedman's work is held in the following permanent collections: International Center of Photography, New York City: 51 prints The Ringling, Sarasota, FL: 49 prints Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris: 21 prints Moderna Museet, Stockholm: 6 prints Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ: 6 prints "from the W. Eugene Smith Collection"

Publications

With text by Frank McCourt and Malachy McCourt. "Gold edition" of 30 copies (each with a print); 2nd printing of 100. With essays by John Edwin Mason and Aaron Bryant.