Joni Sternbach is a New York based artist and (sometimes) filmmaker whose work with 19th century processes has broken new ground in the field. In her series of Abandoned structures along the water’s edge- from Maine to Georgia- she has photographed the remains of our industrial past just before it has fallen into the sea or disappeared from sight. Her large format, tintype and ambrotype objects contain the physicality of these sites and reflect on our past impact on the built environment.
Sternbach works with large format film and early photographic processes exploring the present-day landscape and making environmental portraits. Much of her work is centered around our relationship with water, and how as humans, we observe, relate to, and interact with the earth’s oceans. Because her work is so intrinsic to connective bodies of water, it taps into issues like climate change and its accompanying effects. Her long-term projects involve the pursuit and understanding of the western landscape in the series The Salt Effect and SurfLand, which captures portraits of surfers in tintype around the globe.
Sternbach’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Her most recent exhibition, Western Wave at Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco brings together a comprehensive selection of multi panel and ultra-large format western tintypes from the series Surfland.
Her photographs are held in major international institutions: National Portrait Gallery, London, Maison Européenne de la Photographie and Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, France, The High Museum, LACMA, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, MoPA, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is the recipient of grants and awards including MacDowell, UCross, NYFA, CAPS, the 2011 Clarence John Laughlin, and 2010 Santo Foundation awards.
Sternbach is founding faculty at Penumbra Foundation in NYC where she currently teaches and serves on their advisory board.
Please contact the following galleries in your area for inquiries: Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, ARC Fine Art in East Hampton, NY, Circle Contemporary, in Cornwall, UK, and Black Box Projects in London.
ONE + TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
| 2025 | – | Western Wave-Two-Person Show Berggruen Gallery, SF, CA |
| 2023 | – | The Surfing Landscape Von Lintel Gallery, Santa Monica, CA |
| – | Salt Horizon Circle Contemporary Gallery, Cornwall, UK | |
| 2021 | – | SURFBOARD Black Box Projects, London, UK |
| 2020 | – | SURFBOARD Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2019 | – | The Momentary Wave MOAH, Lancaster, CA |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2004 | – | What is This Heaven East Gallery, Brooklyn, NY |
| 1992 | – | Untitled Silhouettes Julie Saul Gallery, NY |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2025 | – | Art Basel, Miami. Berggruen Gallery |
| – | Armory Show, NYC. Berggruen Gallery | |
| 2024 | – | Hoikeakea Gallery, The Swell Is Coming, Honolulu Hawai'i |
| – | Berggruen Gallery, California Gold. SF, CA | |
| – | San Louis Obispo Art Museum, Whose Waters, SLO, CA | |
| 2023 | – | UCross Gallery The Shape of Time, curated by Keith Davis |
| 2022 | – | The Art Show, Von Lintel Gallery. NYC |
| 2021 | – | Fergus McCaffrey Gallery, St Barthes. Barbarian Days |
| – | High Museum of Art, Underexposed: Women Photographers from the Collection | |
| 2020 | – | Black Box Projects, Into The Blue. London, UK, |
| – | HCP, Keeper of the Hearth. Houston, TX, | |
| – | University of New Mexico, A Yellow Rose Project | |
| 2019 | – | Black Box Projects, Fundamentals. London |
| – | Shelburne Art Museum, VT Time Lapse: Contemporary Analogue Photography | |
| – | Bullivant Gallery, St Louis, MO California Dreamin' | |
| 2018 | – | JP Morgan Chase, Paris Photo Special Exhibition at Paris Photo 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 | – | Candela Books & Gallery. Richmond, VA Unbound |
| – | Santa Barbara Museum of Art Portrayal / Betrayal | |
| – | Rick Wester Fine Art. NYC AIPAD, PULSE | |
| – | Photo Center NW. Seattle, WA surFACE: Contemporary Wet Plate Collodion Portraiture | |
| 2011 | – | Rick Wester Fine Art. Miami, FL PULSE Art Fair |
| – | 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. Benefit Auction | |
| 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 | |
| – | 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 | |
| 1994 | – | Paul Kopeikin Gallery. LA, California Hidden Faces |
| – | Art In General. NYC Little Things | |
| 1993 | – | 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 | |
| 1991 | – | Museum of Modern Art, New York Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort |
| 1988 | – | 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
| 2023 | – | Uncommon Art Residency |
| 2020 | – | Yucca Valley Material Lab |
| 2018 | – | MacDowell 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 | |
| 1992 | – | Polaroid Artists Support Grant |
| 1987 | – | Light Work. Syracuse, NY. Artist In Residence Grant |
| 1982 | – | Creative Artists Public Service |
Public Collections
The High Museum of Art
LA County Museum of Art
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
Curated Exhibitons
Reimaging Likeness + Landscape. Penumbra Foundation March-June 24, 2022
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
Penumbra Foundation
Medium San Diego
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
Houston Center for Photography
Utah State University, Caine College of the Arts
Peabody Essex Museum
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Bibliography
Kissing A Stranger – Monograph 2022
As Much As – artist Book.
Surfboard – Monograph 2020
Keeper Of The Hearth by Odette England
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 https://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