Joel Sternfeld
1979
Exhausted Renegade Elephant, Woodland, Washington

Chromogenic print
13 1/2 x 17 in (34.3 x 43.2 cm)
 
Swann Galleries - New York
Courtesy of Swann Galleries (Auction, Oct 15, 2007, #2124, Lot 158)
 
With Sternfeld's signature, title, dates, and edition notations, "15/100," in ink, on verso.
 
American Prospects, 46.
 
Joel Sternfeld's large-format color photographs, striking in their crisp detail, ironic juxtapositions, and roadside perspective on American identity, are perhaps best known through his seminal publication American Prospects. Published in 1987, the book explores the American landscape, and grew out of nearly a decade of Sternfeld's travels across the country in a Volkswagon camper van. The resulting photographs are coolly beautiful, subtle, and sublime. Sternfeld's perspective, as reflected in his unique compositional choices, at times seems removed, and yet it is also concerned and attentive, using color and detail as a means of revealing truths beneath the surface. Along with photographers such as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, and Mitch Epstein, Sternfeld's work both redefined the American scene and elevated color photography to the status it enjoys today.
 
LL/23196