Shelter Island - "Flag" (Viking Studio, member of Penguin Group, USA, $18) "is an eye-catching testament to the American people's longstanding, rich and diverse relationship with their flag" by veteran photographer, Victor Friedman.

This black and white photographic testament to the most iconic of American symbolism indeed captures the pride, honor and respect the flag receives in the lives of everyday, hard-working Americans. From Boy Scout troops to high school graduates, and from farmstands to parades, Friedman has recorded classic Americana at its finest.

Friedman is well-known for his photos in the New York Times, Popular Photography, and many other magazines and journals. Additionally, his photographs are in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of the City of New York, and the New York Public Libary. He has exhibited his photographs nationally and internationally in both Israel and Germany.

"[He] never really set out to do an entire book about the American flag. Yet when he began to examine all of his proof sheets from a professional career spanning 45 years, he discovered that the American flag was everywhere" according to the publisher, yet this book in its quiet simplicity reminds all of us of the national pride this symbol has represented throughout American history.

Friedman is a resident of both Shelter Island and New York City.