Joel Sternfeld’s First Pictures

It’s always exciting to discover early work of an accomplished and established artist. Three decades after they were made, Joel Sternfeld’s earliest photographs have now been published as “First Pictures,” a selection of which are débuting today at Luhring Augustine Gallery. Taken between 1971 and 1980, the photographs document the travels of a young artist from busy streets to barefoot beaches, with inklings of Sternfeld’s now celebrated dark sense of humor, formalist experiments in color theory, and narrative tableaus. Here’s a look.

All images courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.