Lawrence Fried

This article has an unclear citation style. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation and footnoting. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lawrence Fried (June 28, 1926 – September 10, 1983) was an American photo-journalist. He was born to first-generation Jewish Hungarian and Russian parents in New York, N. Y. Fried's work appeared in Newsweek, The Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times, Vogue, Collier's, and Parade Magazine.[1] with over 70 covers for Newsweek [2]. He was the recipient of the Photographer of the Year award by the Overseas Press Club, the Outstanding Service to ASMP award and the Benjamin Franklin Award [3].

Fried learned photography while serving in World War II. After the war he attended the University of Miami, then moved to New York City. In the 1950s and early 1960s he worked through the PIX, Inc. alongside friends Cornell Capa, Ed Feingersh, George Karger, and Hans Knopf. There he began a 30-year career as a freelance photographer. He was a three-term president of the American Society of Magazine Photographers, a trade organization, and a founding partner of the Image Bank, which represents the work of 300 photographers.[5]

The people and subjects that he photographed on multiple occasions range from Vietnam [6] to world leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek [7]. His photograph of Robert F. Kennedy was chosen as the book cover of Kennedy's To Seek a Newer World [8]. While riding in the presidential motorcade covering Lyndon Johnson for the Saturday Evening Post [9] his car caught on fire and his leap—cameras flinging in the air—was captured on the front page of many major newspapers including The New York Daily News.[10]

He photographed musicians, actors, and visual artists throughout his career. Bette Midler [11], Stevie Wonder [12], Meryl Streep [13], Shirley MacLaine [14], Richard Serra [15], Joseph Kosuth [16], and Willem de Kooning [17], Audrey Hepburn.[19]