Joel Sternfeld

Joel Sternfeld verdanken wir nicht weniger als die Wiederentdeckung§der Farbe für die Kunstfotografie. Ab Ende der§1970er Jahre machte er unter dem Begriff "New Color" von§sich reden. Mit der Kamera zog Sternfeld durch Städte und§Landschaften und dokumentierte in der Tradition des unauffälligen§Beobachters die Eigenarten und die sozialen Entwicklungen§seines Landes.§Dieser Katalog zur Ausstellung im Museum Folkwang bietet§einen Gesamtüberblick über sein Werk, das sich konsequent§mit Phänomenen des eigenen Landes auseinandersetzt.§Joel Sternfeld, geboren 1944 in New York, gilt als einer der§bedeutendsten Fotografen der Gegenwart. Im Steidl Verlag§sind erschienen: Treading on Kings (2002), American Prospects§(2003, Reprint), Sweet Earth (2006), When it changed (2007),§Oxbow Archive (2008), Walking the High Line (2009) und iDubai§(2010).§Ausstellung: 16. Juli bis 23. Oktober 2011, Museum Folkwang,§EssenThis is the first book of Sternfeld s largely unseen early colour photographs. In 1969 Sternfeld began working with a§35 mm camera and Kodachrome film, and First Pictures contains works from this time until 1980. Here Sternfeld§develops traits that appear in his mature work: irony, a politicised view of America, concern for the social condition.§But there are also pictures that bear little relation to his later work: colour arrangements that parallel those of Eggleston,§as well as street photography which Sternfeld ceased making in 1976. The photographs in First Pictures were made§at a time when colour photography was struggling to assert itself against the authoritative black and white tradition,§making this book a revelation both in Sternfeld s oeuvre and in the history of contemporary photography.§A major figure in the photography world, Joel Sternfeld was born in New York City in 1944. He has received numerous§awards including two Guggenheim fellowships, a Prix de Rome and the Citibank Photography Award. Sternfeld s§books published by Steidl include American Prospects (2003), Sweet Earth (2006) and Oxbow Archive (2008).