User:Artandfeminism/sandbox

= Joni Sternbach =

Biography
Joni Sternbach was born in Bronx, New York in the 1950s. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1977, and her MFA from New York University and the International Center for Photography in 1987. Sternbach worked as an adjunct faculty member at NYU for over two decades. She currently works and lives in Bronx, New York where she is both a founder and faculty member of the Penumbra Foundation, also known as the Center for Alternative Photography. She is also faculty member at the International Center for Photography. Sternbach specializes in wet plate collodion processes and teaches this nineteenth-century process at both the International Center of Photography and the Penumbra Foundation. She is represented by the Von Lintel Gallery in Los Angeles, Rick Wester Fine Art in New York City, and Galerie Catherine et Andre Hug in Paris, France. Her work has been exhibited across the United States for over three decades and internationally in the past ten years. Sternbach expresses herself through large format photography and nineteenth-century development processes. Throughout her artistic career, she continues to create bodies of work that are inherently romantic and at times reminiscent of 1960’s Americana. Although Sternbach has a distinct and diverse portfolio of works she is best known for her Surfland series.

Early Life
Born in Bronx, New York to a beautician and laundromat owner, Joni Sternbach grew up in an environment lacking both nature and culture. She moved to Yonkers, New York, where she attended Roosevelt High School. At Roosevelt, Sternbach studied art with Mrs. Brody, her high school teacher who was influential on her life and career.

College and Graduate School
1977- BFA: School of Visual Arts, New York

1987- MFA: New York University/International Center of Photography, New York

The Penumbra Foundation
Joni Sternbach is both a founder and a faculty member at the Penumbra Foundation, also known as the Center for Alternative Photography, which functions as a non profit organization. The foundation uses tools such as education, research, public outreach, and residency programs to unify both the art and science of photography. The Penumbra Foundation offers workshops for the general public that range from one or two day intensive classes to extended seminars spanning weeks at a time. Topics covered in these workshops include but are not limited to Daguerreotype, Kallitype, Uranotype, Cyanotype, Wet Plate Collodion, Bromoil, Camera Obscura, Carbon Printing, and Tri- Color Gum Bichromate processes.

Process
In her Surfland series, the camera itself functioned as a bridge between photographer and subject in that it was a talking point for people on the beach and made Sternbach very approachable. This sharply contrasts the way that many photographers work with full frame DSLR's, which when held at eye level can be viewed as intimidating and an invasion of privacy by many people in public environments.

Sternbach's process varies depending on the body of work. In general, her process is very slow and meticulous. When shooting with a large format view camera, Sternbach takes her time to in framing her compositions. Her images always appear carefully considered because the process in which she works is slow, the landscapes that she photographs do not often require her to work quickly.

The Passengers. This series, which is made up of black and white street photography taken in subway cars and stations across NYC, required a very fast way of working. In order to capture these fleeting moments in the close quarters of subway cars Sternbach needed to shoot with a 35mm camera. Using a large format view camera could not work in these environments, this is an example of how Sternbach's tool is specific to her desired outcome. Her medium is specific to her message.

Surfland
Since 2006 Joni Sternbach has been developing Surfland, the work for which she is best known. Surfland is a series of tintype portraits of surfers from "beaches all across the country and the world, from New York to California to Australia." The photographs, often taken at water’s edge, are each one of a kind due to the tintype development process. Her work sharply contrasts the typical approach to photographing surfers, as Sternbach’s depiction of surfer culture focuses more on the people involved with the sport rather than the sport itself. Sternbach sets up her view camera and tripod on the edge of the beach waiting for her subjects to approach her, in contrast to the way many photographers work photographing surfers with long lenses and a DSLR, snapping hundreds of photos to get the perfect shot. This way of working allows for a much more intimate experience, in which amateurs and professional surfers alike establish a unique bond with Sternbach. This relationship comes through in her images, offering an unparalleled visual depiction of surf culture in the western world. Despite the slow process and meticulous staging, each photograph comes off as “Spontaneous and unpredictable, the streaks and tonal variations in the finished photographs reflect their hand-made character, the corners rubbed where they were held in the camera.” The tonality of her tintype photographs, as an aesthetic choice, mirror the leathery skin and sun-worn bodies of the surfers photographed. Furthermore, the large format communicates a level of detail conveying each and every scar, wrinkle, or freckle on both young and old bodies of her subjects.

Although the wet collodion tintype process is inherently slow, what is distinctive about it is the immediacy of the development process. After photographing directly onto the plate, Sternbach or her assistants can develop the image right there on the beach offering her the opportunity to edit or adjust her composition in the same fashion that polaroids or DSLRs do today. The development is accomplished through the use of a dark box, which has been used in wet plate collodion processes for over 150 years. As Philip Prodger, Head of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery asserts in the forward of Sternbach's book Surfland, "(Sternbach's photographs) are about relationships--the relationship between surfer and board, between human and landscape, between photographer and subject, and between the surfers themselves. The dynamics of families and friends are revealed in subtle gestures and expressions. Couples are conspicuous in their affection, or occasionally, by their lack of togetherness. Mothers with daughters, and fathers with sons, speak of time's passing. Sternbach captures the spirit of community that unites surfers, but also the differences that make each surfer distinct." These details separate Sternbach's work from rest.

Other Works
Sternbach's other bodies of work have much in common. Formally they are similar in their compositions, subject, and method of photographing. Sternbach favors the 6"x6", or two and a quarter feet, aspect ratio and photographs almost exclusively with large format film. Sternbach embraces the combination of both black and white and color images into several bodies of work, such as Nebraska and Promise Land. This combination of film types within the same series shows how well her image making coheres, and further says something about the strength of her compositions and content of each image. Sternbach photographs from eye level, in contrast to the classic landscapes which often puts the viewer up high,. In working this way Sternbach transports the viewer to the perspective of someone within the landscape. Her work frequently involves wide open spaces, establishing lonesome narratives that are both evocative and ambiguous.

Solo Exhibitions
2017     – The Harn Museum, Gainesville, FL

2016     – Her Wave Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2015     – Surfland Helder Supply, Biarritz, France

– Surfland Galerie Hug. Paris, France

2014     – The Passengers Rick Wester Fine Art. NYC

2012     – Surfland Revisited, 2006-2012 Rick Wester Fine Art. NYC

– Surfland Southeast Museum of Photography. Daytona Beach, FL

2011     – Sea Creatures Joseph Bellows Gallery

2010     – New Photographs Kenise Barnes Fine Art. Larchmont, NY

2009     – Surfland Peabody Essex Museum. Salem, MA

– Surfland Blue Sky Gallery. Portland, OR

– Lishui Photo Festival. Lishui, China

– Surfland String Room Gallery. Wells College. Aurora, NY

2007    – Surfland String Room Gallery. Wells College. Aurora, NY

– Edward Cella Art + Architecture. Santa Barbara, CA

2006     – New Photographs Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY

2005     – Abandoned Galerie BMG, Woodstock, NY

2004     – What is This Heaven East Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2000     – Untitled Silhouettes Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY

1995     – Untitled Silhouettes Bergdorf Goodman, NY

1992     – Untitled Silhouettes Julie Saul Gallery, NY

1988     – Something Between The Two Of Them Dittmar Gallery, Chicago, IL

1986     – Something Between The Two Of Them Stokker Stikker Gallery, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions
2016     – National Portrait Gallery, London, UK Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2016

– MOCA Jacksonville, FL Retro-spective: Analog Photography in a Digital World       

– Candela Gallery and Books, Richmond, VA  Unbound 5

– Museum Belvédère'', Heerenveen, Netherlands. Arena, Noordelicht Photo Festival    ''

– Musée de l’Elysée|Memory of the Future 

2015     – Gallery at the School of Design at Mount Ida. Newton, MA New Visionaries: Photographers Who Bridge Art + Commerce

2014     – Rick Wester Fine Art. NYC Not Long Hidden

2013     – The Fralin Museum of Art. Charlottesville, VA Looking at the New West

– The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City, MO About Face: Contemporary Portraiture

– Light Factory, Charlotte, NC Sometime Other Than Now: Alternative Processes in Contemporary Photography

– United Photo Industries, Brooklyn, NY Drawn To Water

2012     – KT Fine Art. East Hampton, NY She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

– Candela Books & Gallery. Richmond, VA Unbound

– Santa Barbara Museum of Art Portrayal / Betrayal

– Rick Wester Fine Art. NYC AIPAD, PULSE

– Space 15 Twenty. Los Angeles, CA Hellawood

– Photo Center NW. Seattle, WA surFACE: Contemporary Wet Plate Collodion Portraiture

2011     – Rick Wester Fine Art. Miami, FL PULSE Art Fair

– Lúz Gallery. Victoria, BC IMPRINT :: 2011

– Joslyn Art Museum. Omaha, NE American Landscape: Contemporary Photographs of the West

– Jennifer Schwartz Gallery. Atlanta, GA Wet Plate and Mirrors: Photographers Working with Historical Processes

– The Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes, CA Surf’s Up

– Museum of Ventura County. Ventura, CA Splash: Celebrating Ventura County Beach Culture and Ocean-Inspired Art

– Maison Européenne de la Photographie. Paris, France L’Objet Photographique

– Bric Rotunda Gallery. Brooklyn, NY Water Water Every Where

– Houston Center for Photography. Benfeit Auction

2010     – Aperture Foundation Benefit Auction NYC

– Space 15 Twenty Gallery, LA, CA Stoked on Summer

– Gallery 1500, Sao Paulo, Brazil SP Arte

2009     – Bonni Benrubi Gallery. NYC Hot Fun in the Summertime

– Scheinbaum and Russek Gallery. Santa Fe, NM Summer’s Amost Gone

– Sue Scott Gallery. NYC We’re All Gonna Die

– Art Strand Gallery. Povincetown, MA It’s all about Photography

– Edward Cella Art + Architecture. Los Angeles, CA Transforming Photography

– NY Photo Festival. Brooklyn, NY All Over The Place curated by William Ewing

– Clark Gallery. Lincoln, MA Float

2008     – RayKo Photo Center. San Francisco, CA Into The Ether

– Pulse Art Fair. NYC Artware editions at the VIP lounge

– 23 Sandy Gallery. Portland, OR Resurrection

2007     – Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum. Santa Barbara, CA Glass Love: Contemporary Art And Surf

– Silvermine Guild Arts Center. New Canaan, CT SPECTRA ’07: National Photography Triennial

– Kinz, Tillou + Feigen. NYC By Invitation Only

– Edward Cella Art + Architecture. Santa Barbara, CA Welcome to Our Neighborhood

2006     – Chicago Art Source. Chicago, IL Nostalgic Noir

– Lennon, Weinberg Gallery. NYC Wallpaper Lab

– Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Houston, Texas Photo Forum

– St Louis Art Museum. St Louis, MO Recent Landscape Photography: The Intimate and the Sublime

2005     – Jenkins Johnson Gallery, NYC Inaugural Exhibition

– Foley Gallery. NYC When We Were Young

– Photo Eye Gallery. Santa Fe, NM OnLine/OnSite

2004     – Senior and Shopmaker Gallery. NYC Permutations on the Picturesque

– Hofstra University. Hempstead, NY Where the Island Begins

– Lehman College Art Gallery. Bronx, NY Images of Time and Place: Contemporary Views of Landscape 

2003     – Kenise Barnes Fine Art. Larchmont, NY Two Person Show

– White Room Gallery. Los Angeles, California Inspirations and Interpretations

2002     – Islip Art Museum. Islip, NY Body Language

– Akus Gallery. Eastern Connecticut State University. Willimantic, CT Permeable Borders

– Washington Square East Galleries. NYC Small Works

2001     – Sideshow Gallery. Brooklyn, NY 21st Suffragette

– Kenise Barnes Fine Art. Larchmont, NY Aqua Marine

2000     – Silver Eye Center for Photography. Pittsburgh, PA

1994     – Paul Kopeikin Gallery. LA, California Hidden Faces

– Art In General. NYC Little Things

1993     – Salena Gallery. Long Island University. Brooklyn, NY Two Person Exhibition

– Triangle Theater, Long Island University. Brooklyn, NY Body And Soul Collaborative Installation

– University Of Texas at Austin A Second Look: Women Photographers at the HRHRC Catalogue

1991     – Museum Of Modern Art. NY Pleasures And Terrors of Domestic Comfort

1998     – Houston Center For Photography. Houston, TX The Other Catalogue

– Bayfront NATO Center for The Arts. Erie. PA Totem Polemic Or, The Family Emblem

1986     – Stokker Stikker Gallery. NYC Two Person Exhibition

– Light Work Gallery. Syracuse, NY Three Person Exhibition

Books
2015: Sternbach, Joni "Surf Site Tin Type"

2014: Sternbach, Joni "The Passengers”

2013: Sternbach, Joni "Promise Land"

2009: Sternbach, Joni "Surfland"

Grants, Residencies, and Prizes
2016: National Portrait Gallery, London. Taylor Wessing Award, 2nd Prize

2013: Ucross Foundation. Clearmont, WY

2012: Ucross Foundation. Clearmont, WY

Kimmel Harding Nelson. Nebraska City, Nebraska

2011: Clarence John Laughlin Award. New Orleans Photo Alliance

The Art Park. Byron Bay, NSW Australia

2010: The Santo Foundation, Artist Grant

Center for Land Use Interpretation. Wendover, UT

2008: Photo Lucida Hard Cover Monograph

Center for Land Use Interpretation. Wendover, UT

2004: Honorable Mention. Silver Eye Center for Photography

1992: Polaroid Artists Support Grant

1987: Light Work. Syracuse, NY Artist In Residence Grant

1986: New York Foundation For The Arts

Artists Space. NYC Exhibition Assistance Grant

1982: Creative Artists Public Service