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Bio

Scott Sternbach
My interest in photography was first sparked when I discovered my great grandfathers collection of glass plate negatives. I was 10 years old and after finding this treasure trove of negatives, an enlarger, and a camera my passion for the medium of photography began.
I took my early studies with Arnold Gassan at Ohio University and then after returning to New York with Lisette Model at The New School for Social Research. Given my love of music and proximity to the musical venues in Greenwich Village I immersed myself in the capturing of Jazz musicians and their culture on film. The images I took began finding their way into prominent publications including the New York Times, Swiss Jazz Magazine, New York Magazine. I also began exhibiting this work in small galleries and group shows in Manhattan. A large selection of my Jazz images were purchased for use on cinematic sets by Walt Disney Studios and remain in their archive.
One of the early highlights of my career was my exhibition of Jazz photographs that traveled to Dakar, Senegal and was displayed in their American Cultural Center in 1984. My work touched the population of this West African nation and was documented by the national media and so reached a wide audience. My work with Jazz artists continued for many years thereafter and led to over 60 credits on CD and record jackets, numerous editorial spreads and print sales.
Although I spent much time in the later years of my career photographing for corporate clients producing annual reports and publicity images I always worked independently on personal projects. At one point in the mid 1980’s I spent six months shooting a documentary project concerned with the non touristic destinations across Mexico. In the late 80’s I traveled to the Yukon Territory and Alaska to photograph the remote landscape and to investigate the possibilities of entering ANWR to work on a documentary. In the mid 1990’s I spent one month in Costa Rica exploring the pristine landscape that was ripe for touristic development.
In 1996 I was invited to exhibit my photographs of the Jazz music culture at CUNY/LaGuardia Community College. Soon after I was offered a part time position as an adjunct instructor in the photography program. In 2002 I was appointed as the full time director of the photography program and I continue to direct one of the top community college photography programs in the country. I am also an adjunct professor of photography at Yeshiva University.
Currently I am working on three long-term projects. One concerns the quickly fading culture of the small dairy farmer in Delaware County, NY. Another explores the pre war industrial complex through visits to abandoned factories and warehouses in the New York Metropolitan area. My most recent photographic venture examines the changing face of Jersey City, NJ, a complex urban city in a state of transition.
I was awarded the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers grant in May of 2008. The work produced from my 3-month residency in Antarctica is now in production and has been exhibited as 40 large format prints at LaGuardia College Atrium Gallery CUNY. I have presented the work in lecture format to the passengers on board the National Geographic Endeavour, for students at Yeshiva University, at the CUNY Graduate Center and a variety of local venues. Selections from the Antarctic project were included in “Finding Work” a group exhibition curated by Keith Miller at Gallatin Gallery (NYU) In November 2009. Selections from the Antarctic project are currently on exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History through January 2011 and will travel the world for ten years thereafter. The work has been featured in a variety of media publications. Select images from the project are included in my exhibition at The Old Bank Gallery in Roxbury NY in June 2010. I have self-published two monographs. Antarctic Souls and Delaware County Line are available upon request. The Johns Hopkins Review will be publishing 3 portfolios of my work beginning with the January 2011 issue.