Lee Friedlander’s Topless Bridesmaid (1967).Courtesy of Janet Bourden, Inc.
Always a Bridesmaid
Given Lee Friedlander’s reputation as a master chronicler of modern American culture, we can only assume that this bridesmaid dress is, in fact, real, as is the Herman Munster–meet–Tracy Turnblad makeup and do. That said, we can also deduce that this ensemble immediately trumps any two-piece, daffodil-colored taffeta confection plucked from the racks of a strip-mall sample sale by your favorite frenemy. Friedlander’s revealing shot (note the visible tan lines!) is part of Yossi Milo’s summer group show, “June Bride,†an unorthodox look at brides, weddings, and rituals as documented and imagined by some of photography’s finest (among them Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, Nikki S. Lee, and Robert Mapplethorpe), up through August 17. We wonder what the bride was wearing… —Rachel Wolff