Joel Sternfeld Independent 20th Century
September 24–September 27, 2026
Rodder is pleased to announce a solo presentation of photographs by renowned artist Joel Sternfeld (b.1944, New York, NY) at the fifth edition of Independent 20th Century. This presentation will offer viewers insight into Sternfeld’s initial exploration of color photography through a selection of small-format, dye transfer prints. While these photographs were the basis of Sternfeld’s first successful Guggenheim Award application, they largely went untouched in the artist’s studio when his focus turned to his landmark American Prospects series. In 2009, he began revisiting early projects including these series, but to this day, these photographs have not been properly exhibited in New York City.
Selected Works
Joel Sternfeld
Joel Sternfeld (b.1944, New York, NY) lives and works in New York, NY. He received his BA from Dartmouth College in 1965 and began making photographs in the 1970s. Sternfeld is regarded as a pioneer of color photography, alongside Stephen Shore and William Eggleston. His work en toto constitute a sweeping summation of the American Landscape as well as the many meanings of the American experience. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Joel Sternfeld’, Hall Foundation, Reading, VT (2025); ‘Joel Sternfeld: When It Changed’, Georgia Museum of Art - University of Georgia, Athens, GA (2025); ‘Joel Sternfeld: On this Site’, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA (2025). In October, Sternfeld’s influential American Prospects series will be the focus of ‘American Prospects and Landscape Photography, 1839 to Today’ at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO. Works by the artist are held in major international collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; the Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Albertina, Vienna, Austria; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, Switzerland; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, among others.