Joel Sternfeld’s seminal body of work, American Prospects, changed the course of photographic representation. Over the course of this series Sternfeld looked upon the course of recent human history in the U.S. with both exaltation and sadness. He saw an America that has stood in the history of nations as a place of wealth, exuberance, exoticism, and an experiment in democracy. With each successive publication of American Prospects, the body of work has become increasingly relevant to the present day.

American Prospects: The New Pictures is the debut of never-before-seen images from Sternfeld’s legendary work. Oftentimes quieter and more contemplative than the iconic images of the original publication, they provide a more nuanced and a more rounded view of the contradictions inherent in the American experience. Discovered in boxes never opened or never examined in the Sternfeld studio, they provide us a richer view into an American classic. In time, some of these images will become iconic as well, but for now, they are as fresh as if they were made yesterday even while functioning as documents of a time some forty years ago.

"The pictures that I made represent the efforts of someone who grew up with a vision of classical regional America and the order it seemed to contain, to find beauty and harmony in an increasingly uniform, technological and disturbing America."

- Joel Sternfeld