Galerie Hug presents the first solo exhibition in Paris of Joni Sternbach’s critically acclaimed series, Surfland. Her ongoing project is comprised of contemporary tintype portraits of surfers created using the historic wet-plate collodion process. The photographs are a unique blending of subject matter and photographic technique. Using this instantaneous process, Sternbach creates one-of-a-kind artworks that are imbued with a feeling of ambiguity, timelessness and mystery.
Sternbach works with several large-format cameras to depict the symbiotic and close-knit relationship between surfers and their environment. Her portraits explore the juncture between land and sea, drawing on the liminal state that surfers inhabit. Both her insight and process counter the standard surf-action image. Her subjects stand strong, with their totem-like surfboards, in a broad range of ages and ethnicities. SurfLand chronicles and celebrates these fascinating denizens of regional surf spots around the globe.
The photographs were shot on both coasts of the United States as well as in Cornwall, England and Byron Bay, Australia. The exhibition will also feature Sternbach’s single channel video, Momenta, and a photogravure print from the same series.
EXHBITION
Surfland by Joni Sternbach
From May 6th to June 13th, 2015
Galerie Catherine et André Hug
40, rue de Seine / 2, rue de l’Échaudé
75006 Paris
France
Tue-Sat : 11:00am-1pm / 2:30pm-7:00pm
