Joni Sternbach uses large format cameras and early photographic processes to explore the present-day landscape and to make environmental portraits. Her work centers on our relationship with water. Her long-term projects involve the pursuit and understanding of the American West and the series Surfland, which captures portraits of surfers in tintype.
Sternbach received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts and a MA from New York University and International Center of Photography in 1987, where she taught for over a decade. She is an advisory board member and founding faculty at Penumbra Foundation in NYC, where she teaches wet plate collodion
Sternbach’s work is held in many international and public collections including the National Portrait Gallery in London, Joslyn Museum, MOCA Jacksonville, Nelson Atkins Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is the recipient of several grants including NYFA and CAPS and Santo Foundation. Her upcoming monograph will be published in 2021 by Chroma Chronicle Books.
She is represented in Los Angeles by Von Lintel Gallery, in London by Black Box Projects, in Paris by Galerie Hug and in East Hampton, N Y by Arc Fine Art.
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
| 2019 | – The Momentary Wave MOAH Art Museum, Lancaster, CA through January 12, 2020 |
| 2018 | – Ocean Side Galerie Catherine et Andre Hug, Paris, France – The Momentary Wave, Halekulani Gallery, Honolulu, HI |
| 2017 | – VAST: Sea Salt, Sand, Sky, 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 |
| 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 Edward Cella Art + Architecture. Santa Barbara, CA |
| 2006 | – New Photographs Kenise Barnes Fine Art |
| 2005 | – Abandoned Galerie BMG, Woodstock, NY |
| 2004 | – What is This Heaven East Gallery, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2000 | – Untitled Silhouettes Kenise Barnes Fine Art |
| 1995 | – Untitled Silhouettes Bergdorf Goodman, NY |
| 1992 | – Untitled Silhouettes Julie Saul Gallery, NY |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2019 | – Black Box Projects, London, UK Fundamentals |
| – Shelburne Art Museum, VT Time Lapse: Contemporary Analogue Photography – Bullivant Gallery, St Louis, MO California Dreamin’ |
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| 2018 | – JP Morgan Chase, Paris Photo Special Exhibition This Must Be The Place – Circle Contemporary Gallery, Wadebridge, England – Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Talk To Me – L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, NYC Coast To Coast |
| 2017 | – Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA At Sea – Pingyao Photo Festival, China. Old School/New School – Huntington Beach Art Center, Women in Surfing: Art & History. |
| 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 |
Grants, Awards and Residencies
| 2020 | – Yucca Valley Material Lab |
| 2018 | – MacDowell Colony Artist in Residence |
| 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 |
Public Collections
MOCA Jacksonville
National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Peabody Essex Museum
J.P. Morgan Chase
Tate Museum of Art, Library Collection
Maison Européenne de la Photographie. Paris, France
Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
SF MoMA
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Washington, DC
The Cleveland Museum of Art
St. Louis Art Museum
University Of Texas At Austin. Harry Ransom Center
Polaroid International Collection
Bibliotheque Nationale
International Center Of Photography
Center For Photography at Woodstock
Light Work
Education
Master Of Arts. Photography 1987 New York University/International Center of Photography
Bachelor Of Fine Arts. Photography 1977 School of Visual Arts
Studio Art. 1971 – 72 Goddard College. Plainfield, Vermont
Camp Tintype. 2000 Wetplate workshop with John Coffer
Scully and Osterman Studio. 2002 Wetplate Tutorial
Teaching
Visiting Artist: Cooper Union 2014-2016
Adjunct Instructor in Art: New York University 1986 – 2007
Adjunct Professor of Art: Queensborough Community College. Bayside, NY 2001 – 2002
Adjunct Faculty: Bergen Community College. Paramus, NJ. 1999 – 2000
Instructor In Art: The American School In London 1996
Wet-Plate Workshops: 2003 – present:
International Center of Photography
Penumbra Foundation
Houston Center for Photography
Utah State University, Caine College of the Arts
Peabody Essex Museum
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Bibliography
High Tide Montauk Point, artist book 2019
Surfing by Jim Heimann published by Taschen 2016
The Memory of the Future, published by Musée de l’Elysée edited by Tatyana Franck 2016
Surf Site Tin Type, published by Damiani Editore – Monograph 2015
The Passengers published by Cafe Royal Books 2014
Promise Land published by Cafe Royal Books 2013
The Photograph Not Taken by Will Steacy 2012
Face to Face: Ocean Portraits by Huw Lewis-Jones 2010
SurfLand, published by Photolucida essay by Phillip Prodger – Monograph 2009
Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort by Peter Galassi – published by MOMA 1991
Our website address is: http://jonisternbach.com. When you subscribe to my mailing list you will only receive occasional newsletters about exhibitions and publications related to my artwork. Your privacy is important to us and your information will never be shared.
photograph by Ben Barnick