American Prospects

STERNFELD, JOEL

American Prospects

New York: Times Books, 1987

"American Prospects brought a new respect for color photography and a deeper understanding of American complexity." –Roth, 101 Books

FIRST EDITION of Sternfeld’s first and most celebrated photobook, illustrated with fifty-five color photographs.

“Joel Sternfeld travelled the country for around eight years with a 8x10 view camera and colour film, a sojourn that produced his first and best-known book, American Prospects... The particular quality brought by Sternfeld to the 8x10 colour-landscape aesthetic... is a clear sense of narrative... In American Prospects, each picture suggests an arcane drama being played out—an elephant stranded on a road in Oregon, or a pumpkin stall in Virginia behind which a house burns fiercely. These narrative hints are suggestive, sly, often ironic, frequently mysterious, making American Prospects less a series of photographs than a series of tales—unfinished, elliptical certainly—that add up to a cogent and persuasive view of America...” (Parr/Badger, The Photobook). Roth 260.

New York: Times Books, in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 1987. Oblong quarto (255x302mm), original gray cloth, original photographic dust jacket. A hint of bowing to boards, otherwise book and dust jacket fine.

$1,400

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