Navajo Nation, August 1982, Joel Sternfeld
Kingman Daily Miner, Kingman, AZ, March 16, 1982In the news this morning, a related story.
Showing posts with label American Prospects Revisited. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Prospects Revisited. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
American Prospects Revisited: Arizona 1982
Navajo Nation, August 1982, Joel Sternfeld
Kingman Daily Miner, Kingman, AZ, March 16, 1982In the news this morning, a related story.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
American Prospects Revisited:
McLean, VA 1978
Halloween seems like an appropriate day to think about Sternfeld's best known image: McLean, Virginia, December 1978. I've spent some time this week, as I do every year, visiting the local pumpkin farm with the kids. After a long search —pumpkins are as individual as snowflakes— we came home with three pumpkins and yesterday spent some time carving elaborate jack-o-lanterns into their sides. Tonight they'll be silhouetted in flames. So when I look at Sternfeld's photo the subject matter seems immediately familiar.
McLean, Virginia, December 1978, Joel Sternfeld
At first glance this is among the most beguiling of Sternfeld's photographs. A fireman buying a pumpkin while the house burns behind him? What's going on here? Shouldn't his attention be on the fire? And who buys pumpkins in December? Wouldn't they have rotted in the fields by then?
As has been pointed out in numerous places (including Nick Turpin recently on B) the fire was no accident. It was a training exercise for the McLean Volunteer Fire Department.
A few weeks ago I called Clyde Clark to get a firsthand account of what happened. Clark was a member of the MVFD back in 1978 (he's since risen through the ranks to become Chief) and was on the scene the day of the exercise.
According to Clark, a developer had bought the property planning to build a subdivision but before he could proceed he needed to raze the existing structure. He offered the house up to the MVFD to burn in a controlled way. The MVFD would get some practical training and the developer would be rid of the structure. A win-win situation.
The exercise began in a very controlled way, room by room. It wasn't until late afternoon, around 3 or 4 pm, that the conflagration became big enough to consume the entire house. Joel Sternfeld (In Clark's words, "Joel Sternberg or whatever his name was...") happened to be driving by. He saw the fire, pulled over, set up his 8 x 10, and made the photo before anyone realized he'd done it. According to Clark, Sternfeld had made no prior arrangements and he knew no one on the fire crew. But chance favors the prepared mind, and Sternfeld found himself in the right place at the right time.
It wasn't until later when Sternfeld sent the MVFD a copy of Life Magazine that the fire crew realized they'd been photographed. Sternfeld's photograph was the magazine's centerpiece. Later Sternfeld sent a signed print to the MVFD which has been dutifully put on display in the firehouse, where it provokes the occasional question about its history. On top of that, Clark says they get a few inquiries a year from students or historians curious about the photograph and occasionally they will lend it out locally.
The house is now long gone, replaced by a large housing development called The Hamptons.
The December date still stumps me. I know Virginia is a temperate climate but could they grow such things that time of year? The photo was taken late in the afternoon. In December it would be nearly dark at 4 pm. All of which tempts me to think the date may be mislabeled. I asked Clark but he was unsure of the exact month of the exercise.
At first glance this is among the most beguiling of Sternfeld's photographs. A fireman buying a pumpkin while the house burns behind him? What's going on here? Shouldn't his attention be on the fire? And who buys pumpkins in December? Wouldn't they have rotted in the fields by then?
As has been pointed out in numerous places (including Nick Turpin recently on B) the fire was no accident. It was a training exercise for the McLean Volunteer Fire Department.
A few weeks ago I called Clyde Clark to get a firsthand account of what happened. Clark was a member of the MVFD back in 1978 (he's since risen through the ranks to become Chief) and was on the scene the day of the exercise.
According to Clark, a developer had bought the property planning to build a subdivision but before he could proceed he needed to raze the existing structure. He offered the house up to the MVFD to burn in a controlled way. The MVFD would get some practical training and the developer would be rid of the structure. A win-win situation.
The exercise began in a very controlled way, room by room. It wasn't until late afternoon, around 3 or 4 pm, that the conflagration became big enough to consume the entire house. Joel Sternfeld (In Clark's words, "Joel Sternberg or whatever his name was...") happened to be driving by. He saw the fire, pulled over, set up his 8 x 10, and made the photo before anyone realized he'd done it. According to Clark, Sternfeld had made no prior arrangements and he knew no one on the fire crew. But chance favors the prepared mind, and Sternfeld found himself in the right place at the right time.
It wasn't until later when Sternfeld sent the MVFD a copy of Life Magazine that the fire crew realized they'd been photographed. Sternfeld's photograph was the magazine's centerpiece. Later Sternfeld sent a signed print to the MVFD which has been dutifully put on display in the firehouse, where it provokes the occasional question about its history. On top of that, Clark says they get a few inquiries a year from students or historians curious about the photograph and occasionally they will lend it out locally.
The house is now long gone, replaced by a large housing development called The Hamptons.
The December date still stumps me. I know Virginia is a temperate climate but could they grow such things that time of year? The photo was taken late in the afternoon. In December it would be nearly dark at 4 pm. All of which tempts me to think the date may be mislabeled. I asked Clark but he was unsure of the exact month of the exercise.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
American Prospects Revisited:
San Antonio 1979
San Antonio, TX, March 1979, Joel Sternfeld
Boca Raton News, FL, Wednesday, March 21, 1979, Pg. 2AThursday, October 15, 2009
American Prospects Revisited:
Vancouver, WA 1980
Joel Sternfeld
The Free-Lance Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 19, 1980Friday, October 9, 2009
American Prospects Revisited: Houston 1983
Eugene Register-Guard, February 4, 1983Friday, October 2, 2009
American Prospects Revisited: Rancho Mirage 1979
(from wire copy of original LA Times article)
(American Prospects Revisited matches Sternfeld photographs with newspaper articles describing their events)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
American Prospects Revisited
One of the attractive aspects of American Prospects is that many of its photos depict the aftermath of dramatic events. I don't know if Sternfeld carried a police scanner on his cross country travels but at the very least he was paying close attention to headlines and steering the car accordingly. His journey seemed equally informed by Uncommon Places and Naked City.
Yet unlike Weegee he was no news photographer. Rather than explaining situations, his photographs tended to muddy them. Images of a car upside down in a gulch or firefighter buying produce, e.g., leave the viewer wondering "What the F_ is going on here?"
Simply Add Boiling Water, 1937, Weegee
McLean, Virginia, December 1978, Joel Sternfeld
If he was no Weegee, neither was he Shore. The photographs of Uncommon Places are so drily descriptive that they are better referenced by Google Street View than by newspaper accounts. In contrast, Sternfeld was drawn to specific events.
With the digitizing and archiving of old newspapers these events can now be revisited and seen from the perspective of their times. Seen, in other words, as Sternfeld saw them. Perhaps finally after all these years we can gain a sense of "What the F_ is going on here?"
Back in June I made an initial probe in this direction, investigating the back story of Sternfeld's whale shot. A few months later Michael David Murphy wrote a similar profile on insig.ht, this time about Sternfeld's elephant-in-the-road photo. 
That's two down, leaving several dozen to go.
This post begins a new series investigating some of Sternfeld's shots through the lens of old news articles, beginning with After a Tornado, Grande Isle, Nebraska, June 1980 (image 23 in the 2003 version of AP). Here is the image (sorry for the poor scan):
After a Tornado, Grande Isle, Nebraska, June 1980, Joel Sternfeld
And here is the situation as described by The Toledo Blade in an article published June 4, 1980:
I'll have more Sternfeld photos to follow in the upcoming weeks...
Yet unlike Weegee he was no news photographer. Rather than explaining situations, his photographs tended to muddy them. Images of a car upside down in a gulch or firefighter buying produce, e.g., leave the viewer wondering "What the F_ is going on here?"
If he was no Weegee, neither was he Shore. The photographs of Uncommon Places are so drily descriptive that they are better referenced by Google Street View than by newspaper accounts. In contrast, Sternfeld was drawn to specific events.
With the digitizing and archiving of old newspapers these events can now be revisited and seen from the perspective of their times. Seen, in other words, as Sternfeld saw them. Perhaps finally after all these years we can gain a sense of "What the F_ is going on here?"
Back in June I made an initial probe in this direction, investigating the back story of Sternfeld's whale shot. A few months later Michael David Murphy wrote a similar profile on insig.ht, this time about Sternfeld's elephant-in-the-road photo. 
That's two down, leaving several dozen to go. This post begins a new series investigating some of Sternfeld's shots through the lens of old news articles, beginning with After a Tornado, Grande Isle, Nebraska, June 1980 (image 23 in the 2003 version of AP). Here is the image (sorry for the poor scan):
And here is the situation as described by The Toledo Blade in an article published June 4, 1980:
I'll have more Sternfeld photos to follow in the upcoming weeks...
Monday, June 22, 2009
Nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described
Tab and I took the kids camping this past weekend at Beverly Beach just north of Newport. On the drive home we decided to go the long way. We followed 101 south along the rugged Oregon coast. Beautiful! The road was steep and windy until Florence where it flattened and came inland along the wide beach. From there it was an hour drive east to Eugene.
When we got home I sat down to have a look at our local Sunday paper. In the Commentary section was an article about an incident that happened just over 30 years ago, June 16, 1979, in Florence where I'd just been. Forty one whales came out of the ocean and died on the sand.
Sunday's Register-Guard article
with 1979 photograph by Lori Borgman
If this story sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen this photograph:
Approximately 17 of 41 Sperm Whales That Beached and Subsequently Died, Florence, Oregon, June 1979, Joel Sternfeld
Like many of Sternfeld's photographs, this one (along with the very descriptive caption) begs many questions. What made the whales beach? What's going to happen to their bodies? How did Sternfeld stumble on this scene? Why 17? Why not 19 or 8? What was Sternfeld thinking? Why is he so far from the whales? What's the context of the photograph?
As someone who'd always wondered about the image I looked forward to reading the essay. It's not very often I get to dig up old dirt on a famous photo. Maybe the article could provide some background.
But sadly it didn't offer much (although learning the actual date was nice). The author explored possible explanations and talked about the general tragedy of whaling but couldn't offer any concrete answers because none have been established. The cause of the beaching is still a mystery.
Thirty years later Sternfeld's strange photograph of approximately 17 of 41 sperm whales that beached and subsequently died remains probably the best description of what happened that we'll ever have.
When we got home I sat down to have a look at our local Sunday paper. In the Commentary section was an article about an incident that happened just over 30 years ago, June 16, 1979, in Florence where I'd just been. Forty one whales came out of the ocean and died on the sand.
with 1979 photograph by Lori Borgman
If this story sounds familiar, it's probably because you've seen this photograph:
Like many of Sternfeld's photographs, this one (along with the very descriptive caption) begs many questions. What made the whales beach? What's going to happen to their bodies? How did Sternfeld stumble on this scene? Why 17? Why not 19 or 8? What was Sternfeld thinking? Why is he so far from the whales? What's the context of the photograph?
As someone who'd always wondered about the image I looked forward to reading the essay. It's not very often I get to dig up old dirt on a famous photo. Maybe the article could provide some background.
But sadly it didn't offer much (although learning the actual date was nice). The author explored possible explanations and talked about the general tragedy of whaling but couldn't offer any concrete answers because none have been established. The cause of the beaching is still a mystery.
Thirty years later Sternfeld's strange photograph of approximately 17 of 41 sperm whales that beached and subsequently died remains probably the best description of what happened that we'll ever have.
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