Joel Sternfeld

Joel Sternfeld - McLean, Virginia, December 1978


I had the privilege of listening to Joel Sternfeld give a lecture at the Akron Art Museum tonight. I had never seen a picture of him before and in walks this man with this fantastically curly, dark, bushy hair. At first glance, he reminded me of Bob from That 70's Show. He has great character. He was funny, passionate, and very quirky. He talked about his work and inspirations such as Helen Levitt and Walker Evans. He was friends with Helen and he mentioned that she had passed away a few weeks ago. I had not heard. She was 95 years old. Amazing! Anyway, he said that Helen, who was friends with Walker, did not like to answer questions about him. Despite this, one day when he was out with her he decided to ask her what Walker was like. He said that she paused and said simply, "He was a genius".

At one point I was sitting there thinking that there is no other place I would rather be than right here, right now. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to see several famous photographers speak, because of the Akron Art Museum and the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art. For that, I am forever grateful.