Joel Sternfeld

American, b. 1944

Joseph, Utah, June 1983, 1983

colour print on paper

40.7 x 51 cm Image: 34.2 x 43.5 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift of Peter Tittenberger

G-95-153

Categories:

Photograph, Photography

Regarded as one of the most influential fine art photo-graphers of his generation, Joseph Sternfeld rose to critical acclaim for his large-format documentary colour pictures of the American land and its people. Sternfeld stands apart from many of his contemporaries whose practices are dedicated to exposing the flawed and banal characteristics of life in America. Instead, Sternfeld’s approach to picture making was a quest to reveal the exciting and fascinating aspects of a place, in many cases finding those qualities in the most unlikely spots. This image is of a town named after a local miner, Joseph. With a population under 300 people and composed of less than two kilometres of land, this town is just one of the intriguing places documented and celebrated by Sternfeld.