Background
Leonard Freed was born on October 23, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He was born to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent.
Leonard Freed was born on October 23, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He was born to Jewish, working-class parents of Eastern European descent.
Leonard Freed had wanted to be a painter, but began taking photographs in the Netherlands and discovered a new passion. He traveled in Europe and Africa before returning to the United States where he attended The New School and studied with Alexey Brodovitch, the art director of Harper's Bazaar.
In 1958 Leonard Freed moved to Amsterdam to photograph its Jewish community. Through the 1960s he continued to work as a freelance photojournalist, traveling widely. He documented the Civil Rights Movement in America (1964–1965), the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the New York City police department (1972–1979). His career blossomed during the American civil rights movement, when he traveled the country with Martin Luther King, Jr. in his celebrated march across the U.S. from Alabama to Washington. This journey gave him the opportunity to produce the book Black in White America (1968), which brought considerable attention. His work on New York City law enforcement also led to a book, Police Work (1980).
He joined Magnum Photos in 1972. Publications to which he contributed over the years included Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Fortune, Libération, Life, Look, Paris-Match, Stern, and The Sunday Times Magazine of London.
In later years, Leonard Freed continued photographing in Italy, Turkey, Germany, Lebanon and the U.S. He also shot four films for Japanese, Dutch and Belgian television.
Leonard Freed died in Garrison upstate New York of prostate cancer on November 29, 2006.
(First published in 1968, Black in White America shows man...)
(This Is the Day: The March on Washington is a stirring ph...)
(This book presents some 150 photos, with an introduction ...)
(The American photographer Leonard Freed travelled to Germ...)
Magnum Photos.
In 1956 Leonard Freed met Brigitte Klück, who became his wife, while on assignment for Look in Rome. They had a daughter, Elke Susannah.
