Harlem, New York, 1963

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to working-class Jewish parents of Eastern European descent, Leonard Freed ( 1929-2006)  first wanted to become a painter. However, he began taking photographs while in the Netherlands in 1953 and discovered that this was where his passion lay.

In 1954, after trips throughout Europe and North Africa, he returned to the United States to study. He moved to Amsterdam in 1958 and photographed the Jewish community there. He pursued this concern in numerous books and films, examining German society and his own Jewish roots. 

Working as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards, Freed began to travel widely, photographing Black Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68), the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the New York City police department (1972-79).

Freed joined Magnum in 1972. His coverage of the American civil rights movement first made him famous, but he also produced major essays on world events. Photography became Freed’s means of exploring societal violence and racial discrimination.