In the 1960s and 1970s, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban "social landscape," with many of his photographs including fragments of store-front reflections, structures framed by fences, posters and street signs.
In 1956, he moved to New York City, where he photographed jazz musicians for record album covers.
[4] Working primarily with hand-held Leica 35 mm cameras and black-and-white film, Friedlander's style has focused on the "social landscape."
[5] Friedlander was then a key figure in curator John Szarkowski's 1967 "New Documents" exhibition, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York along with Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus.
[6][7] In 1973, his work was honored at the Rencontres d'Arles festival in France with the screening "Soirée américaine : Judy Dater, Jack Welpott, Jerry Uelsmann, Lee Friedlander" presented by Jean-Claude Lemagny.
[citation needed] Friedlander began photographing parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted for a six-year commission from the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, beginning in 1988.
[citation needed] It has been claimed that Friedlander is "notoriously media shy,"[13] but he did grant an interview to The New York Times in April 2023, in which he discussed his work.