Lee Friedlander is an American photographer who focused on social landscapes in the 1960s and 70s. He is from the Pacific Northwest and worked primarily with black and white film.

This photograph is "Kansas City, Missouri" (1965). The photo is a good example of Friedlander's style. It's a glimpse of a street in Kansas City, where the most prominent subjects are the road and store signs and two subjects in the far back. There is a motel sign, a cleaners sign, and a no parking sign. The two figures are a plane and a cow. The cow is on top of a building. The place looks as though it's leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

There is so much going on in this picture, and that's why I like it. At first it looks mundane. Oh a street and lamp post? But as I paid attention to the details I found it more funny. "No parking," the sign reads, but there is almost no one. One car. No people. No animals. The lamppost divides the storefronts from the street. And then that cow? Why is that on top of a building? Reminds me of the humor in that bass pro shop pyramid in Memphis and the hat on the mini Eiffel tower in Paris, Texas. The plane, why is it leaving that trail? Is it falling? Why does it look like it's still climbing up? It's all interesting once you start to pay attention.