From 1973 to 1974, Lee Friedlander and Burt Wolf edited four iconic portfolios at the Double Elephant Press in New York, featuring photographs by some of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century: Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander himself. Each of the four limited edition portfolios contained fifteen photographs by each artist, representing their distinct visions that can be described in the words of Walker Evans as "oddly refreshing, unselfconsciously striking, and unpredictably adventurous." This publication honors the unique collaborative project that was to become a touchstone in the history of photography.

Thomas Zander, born in Cologne in 1962, is the owner of Galerie Thomas Zander in Cologne, which he founded in 1996. The gallery exhibits media/conceptual art and extended photography and represents, among other artists, Lewis Baltz, Mitch Epstein, Lee Friedlander, and Candida Höfer. Born in Mexico City in 1902, Manuel Álvarez Bravo was Latin America's most influential photographer in the 20th century. He won numerous awards, namely from the 1970s on, and his photographs were shown in over 150 exhibitions. Álvarez Bravo died in 2002. Walker Evans, born in Missouri in 1903, began photographing in the late 1920s. He published two landmark books (American Photographs in 1938 and Let us Now Praise Famous Men with James Agee in 1941) and wrote art and film reviews for Time. Evans died in 1975. Born in Washington State in 1934, Lee Friedlander has had a distinguished career as a photographer. His previously published books include the seminal Self Portrait (1970) and The American Monument (1976), and, more recently, American Musicians (1998), Letters from the People (1993), Little Screens (2001), The Desert Seen (1996), and Kitaj (2002). Garry Winogrand, born in 1928 in New York City, is known for his street photography. His books include The Animals (1969), Public Relations (1977), and Stock Photographs (1980). Winogrand died in 1984.