Joel Sternfeld, born in 1944 in New York City, was known for his large format color prints. He received his degree from Dartmouth and then began shooting in 1970 after having learned the color theories of Johannes Itten and Josef Albers. He currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.
Although he first started shooting with both small and medium size format cameras, he quickly changed to large format as to help give his images that clarity he wanted. His first major collection was titled: American Prospects (1987) and was known for its crisp yet ironic and insightful images. He has also been noted to have followed the footsteps of Walker Evans in terms of style and subject matter. "Sternfeld's projects have consistently explored the possibility of a collective American identity by documenting ordinary people and places throughout the country." Sternfeld has always payed great attention to color and its placement within the photograph as to help enhance his subject matter and create certain juxtapositions. A later book that he published was titled: On This Site: Landscapes in Memoriam (1996). It was a documentary of landscapes where American tragedies had taken place throughout the U.S. His next work was entitled, Stranger Passing (2001). In this project he tells the story of his travels through the photographing of individuals in their natural states and environments. His most recent work, titled: Sweet Earth: Experimental Utopias in America (2006), was done in an effort to capture "the sites of past and present idealized communities."