American Photographer visits University Gallery

Last night at the University Gallery, American photographer, Joel Sternfeld came from the Big Apple to talk about his various collections of photographs and more specifically, his "Oxbow Archive" collection that is currently on display until December 14th.

For a New Yorker, Sternfeld knows a great deal about the Pioneer Valley. During his speech, Sternfeld's knowledge of the area was impressive and when he wanted the involvement of the natives, most didn't have much to chime in with. In "Oxbow Archive," he captures landscapes in East Meadows, Northampton, which is a very pastoral area despite it being near the power plant.

He fell in love with the Valley on a drive from New York to Vermont in September of 1962. He picked a good month to see the Valley, don't you think? Witnessing the Valley , Sternfeld became interested in looking at contemporary landscape. He takes a lot of influences from Thomas Cole, the man who created the photo in this post.

As a part of his achievement of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Sternfeld is notorious for breaking the trend of black and white photographs as art. He said many people were concerned and were questioning him when he began to release photographs in color.

He would get asked, "Why would you work in color?" "Black and white is so natural." But Sternfeld defied his critics and made color photography his thing.

"Working in color was a subversive fate," said Sternfeld.

If you were at the speech, which you probably weren't, you would know how distinguished each of his collections are. His long spanned career has given him the time to travel across the nation to capture near-utopian societies, L.A. culture, New York city scenes, and even the technological advances in Dubai. His "iDubai" collection done less than a year ago, was done through the camera of his iPhone.

Take some time to get to know some of Sternfeld's stuff. He offers many types of photos along the spectrum and there is bound to be one or two things that interests you.

Come on by the gallery underneath the Fine Arts Center to see his work in relation to the other six artists' photos that are on display. Support the arts... you know you should.