Joel Sternfeld began his investigation of America in 1978, leaving New York City behind with only a van and an 8x10 camera. His desire to document the social landscape of the era led him to capture a wide range of subjects, from the banal to the absurd. After nearly a decade on the road, Sternfeld published his first book, American Prospects. The collection focused on man-altered landscapes and employed irony, juxtaposition and color to illustrate the complex social issues of the time. Early critics of the work lambasted its fusion of ‘artistic’ photography with contemporary social and political issues. Sternfeld himself recounts being stuck between tradition and new modes of expression; Szarkowski reportedly named him ‘the worried photographer’