The man was found lying in the street. He will be sent to a hospital. "I don't smoke, but I carry a pack with me. They're useful in such situations," said the officer, from the series "Police Work"

Skip to main content
The man was found lying in the street. He will be sent to a hospital. "I don't smoke, but I carry a pack with me. They're useful in such situations," said the officer, from the series "Police Work"
The man was found lying in the street. He will be sent to a hospital. "I don't smoke, but I carry a pack with me. They're useful in such situations," said the officer, from the series "Police Work"
Artist/Maker (American, 1929 - 2006)
Date1976
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 6 13/16 × 9 7/16 in. (17.3 × 24 cm) Sheet: 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling, P2016
Object number2015.12.22
Not on view
Descriptionvintage
Collections

Additional Details

Provenance 2015: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Thomas J. Wilson.
Markings Stamps: "© Leonard Freed-Magnum" on verso at center in purple ink; "VINTAGE PRINT [with UNIQUE written in pencil in front]" on verso at lower center in black ink; "© Leonard Freed-Magnum" on verso at lower right corner in black ink.
Published References Illustrated in Leonard Freed, POLICE WORK (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980), pl. 42.
Signature Signed "Leonard Freed" on verso in lower right corner in pencil.
Inscribed "78-9-9-27A" on verso at center in black pen; "1978 NEW YORK CITY, USA / VINTAGE PRINT" on verso at lower left in pencil; "7500" on verso at lower left corner in pencil; "BOOK: "POLICE WORK" / 1978 NEW YORK CITY, USA" on verso in lower left corner in pencil; "78-9-9-27A" on verso at lower center in pencil; "LF-PW-042.01" on verso at lower right corner in pencil.
The call coming through the police radio said a woman was seen being dragged, screaming, into an overgrown lot. She was found...battered, drugged and unconscious. Though she was known along the street as an addict and a prostitute, all the other pimps and whores said they hadn't seen a thing. The girl later said she hadn't either, from the series "Police Work"
The call coming through the police radio said a woman was seen being dragged, screaming, into an overgrown lot. She was found...battered, drugged and unconscious. Though she was known along the street as an addict and a prostitute, all the other pimps and whores said they hadn't seen a thing. The girl later said she hadn't either, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1979
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2015.12.20
The "shooting gallery" raid was over and the officers were leaving when from the back room an officer called for us to return. He had found something. Crouched and terrified in a closet was an addict, tourniquet on his upper arm, holding a syringe in his hand, from the series "Police Work"
The "shooting gallery" raid was over and the officers were leaving when from the back room an officer called for us to return. He had found something. Crouched and terrified in a closet was an addict, tourniquet on his upper arm, holding a syringe in his hand, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2014.8.43
© Leonard Freed. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinto…
The “shooting gallery” raid was over and the officers were leaving when from the back room an officer called for us to return. He had found something. Crouched and terrified in a closet was an addict, tourniquet on his upper arm, holding a syringe in his hand, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2017.22.39
© Leonard Freed. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinto…
On a warm July day neighborhood children play in a patrol car. At another time, an officer reminisced about wintry midnight tours, about the isolation he felt in the patrol car. Night after night he drove the same streets saw the same drunks, homeless ones, addicts, whom he had to move on, clearing the street. He had his anxieties. What, he wondered, would he do if one night they were gone? Whom would he talk to?, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2017.22.35
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by B…
As long as I can work here I will. It's better than housework. Cauliflower packing is hard work but I don't even think about it. My hands go through the motions, my mind's somewhere else. The season lasts six months, then I pack tomatoes and collect unemployment for the rest of the year., from the series "Working"
Bill Owens
Date: 1975 (printed later)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2018.12.84
An officer told me, "I get home after a drunk has spewed all over me and the wife says I stink; she doesn't want me near her. I smell of vomit, shit.", NYC
An officer told me, "I get home after a drunk has spewed all over me and the wife says I stink; she doesn't want me near her. I smell of vomit, shit.", NYC
Leonard Freed
Date: 1978
Medium: Vintage gelatin silver print
Object number: 2023.12.150
It was impossible to tell what had happened. Two women were lying, screaming, on the ground. The street was full of excited people. When the dust cleared we found that a man had been shot. His attacker had escaped in the confusion, NYC
It was impossible to tell what had happened. Two women were lying, screaming, on the ground. The street was full of excited people. When the dust cleared we found that a man had been shot. His attacker had escaped in the confusion, NYC
Leonard Freed
Date: 1978
Medium: Vintage gelatin silver print
Object number: 2023.12.151
The man showed his wounds from the drug wars. A few weeks later he was knifed again, from the series "Police Work"
The man showed his wounds from the drug wars. A few weeks later he was knifed again, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1978
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2015.12.21
Photo by David Revette.
Police officers visit a counterculture dress boutique, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1978
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2014.8.45
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by J…
A policewoman plays games with community children. Shortly afterward, the officer became pregnant and was assigned a desk job for the period of her pregnancy, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2017.22.28
The curator of the police museum holds a trophy out of the "romantic" epoch of gang warfare, from the series "Police Work"
The curator of the police museum holds a trophy out of the "romantic" epoch of gang warfare, from the series "Police Work"
Leonard Freed
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2014.8.44
Police officers searching suspects in back of police station, NYC
Police officers searching suspects in back of police station, NYC
Leonard Freed
Date: 1979
Medium: Vintage gelatin silver print
Object number: 2023.12.156