STERNFELD JOEL (1944 ) McLean Virginia December 4 1978

Sale 2146 - Lot 511

Unsold

Estimate: $ 25,000 - $ 35,000

STERNFELD, JOEL (1944- )
"McLean, Virginia, December 4, 1978." Dye-transfer print, 15x19 1/2 inches (38.1x49.5 cm.), with Sternfeld's signature, title, dates and notation, in ink, on verso. 1978; printed 1988

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Additional Details

Fotomann (Robert Mann Gallery); to Alexandra R. Marshall in 1989.
American Prospects, cover and 29.

Well-known for his large-format color photographs, Joel Sternfeld has extended the tradition of chronicling roadside America initiated by Walker Evans in the 1930s. Sternfeld's projects have consistently explored the possibility of a collective American identity by documenting ordinary people and places throughout the country. Each project he embarks on is bound by a concept that imbues it with subtle irony, often through insightful visual juxtapositions. His use of color adds to this notion of a characteristic approach, as it functions in highly sophisticated ways to connect elements and resonate emotion.

Sternfeld began making color photographs in the 1970s after learning the color theory of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers. He initially made street photographs with small- and medium-format cameras, and began working with an eight-by-ten-inch camera by the late 1980s, enabling him to achieve the crisp details for which his work is known. Sternfeld's style and his careful attention to visual qualities combined with an insightful and often ironic view of his subjects add to the composition and tone of this image.

Here, a fireman shops for a pumpkin as a house burns in the background. The pumpkins' vibrant oranges match the autumnal colors of the countryside, and ironically, the fire's flames. Along with photographers such as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, and Mitch Epstein, Sternfeld's work both redefines the American scene and elevates color photography to the status it enjoys today.