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.