Joel Sternfeld's First Pictures are pretty much just that- a sundry compilation/let's make a few bucks off the ol' archives' not so greatest hits. It has quite a few photos, a lot really, and it certainly passes my "must have at least twenty outright winners to even consider buying" test (I've incl a few faves)- but this one gets left at the store shelf nonetheless. A great many of these are from the seventies and are quite the "snapshot" in approach- not "Eggleston snapshots," actual snapshots, period. Flash on camera, say cheese! In some he literally seemed to have asked his subjects to hold up what they bought that day at the mall- no doubt, many will find them interesting, if only for the nostalgia.
The book is divided into different sections, including: the aforementioned mall series, a "street" series that resembles anything going on in street photography to this day, and one of teens/young adults partying and socializing. Some will definitely like this miscellaneous conglomeration through various times and styles more than others. Curiously, in Shore's
American Surfaces, one is able to see how he was straining to achieve what was to follow in his breakthrough
Uncommon Places. First Pictures, however, doesn't go there- absent is the more subtle, yet intricate use of color that Sternfeld's more formal, large format compositions would ultimately incorporate in
American Prospects.
No comments:
Post a Comment