JOEL STERNFELD AT LUHRING AUGUSTINE

As many of my colleagues know, a day gallery hopping is never completely awe-inspiring or rewarding---in fact, it can be often downright depressing.

So, I was extremely pleased to see the show at Luhring Augustine of Joel Sternfeld's large-format photographs around Oxbow in upstate New York.


I find it very fulfilling to find work like Sternfeld's still so solidly holds its own in the contemporary art world, as opposed to trendier, flashier photography with less gravitas. These photographs depict the subtle nuances which nature presents in one tiny corner of the world over a period of time. The work is sincere, beautiful, and perhaps a bit obsessive---my favorite type of photography. Even if the work is a 'break from the sublime' as the press release describes, the pictures are luscious just in their scale and perfect composition. Each photograph is obviously the product of a very slow, meditative picture-making process.