Researching the "Anti-Portrait"

Studying the work of Giorgio Ciam and Francesca Woodman has prompted me to look deeper into the world of the "Anti-Portrait". Through this, I have come across several methods artists have employed in order to remove themselves or their subjects from an image while still communicating information about them. 

In doing so, I explored the work of Lee Friedlander; a photographer who incorporates himself, sometimes comically, into pictures of his surroundings using largely his shadow or reflection. The following quote from his book "Self Portrait" (1970) I feel sums up the way he operates well: 

"They began as straight portraits, but soon I was finding myself at times in the landscape of my photography." - Lee Friedlander

Despite his body not present in the frame, Friedlander is very much a part of each image, with his shadow or reflection often causing an ominous distraction from all else within it. His style also reveals, as a portrait should, aspects of his personality. For example, (below) the first photo demonstrates a certain lightheartedness while he tries to make his shadow sit in a chair, whereas the second can almost be called voyeuristic, as he follows a woman down the street.