Sternbach, Joni. Kissing a Stranger by Joni Sternbach. SIGNED.

Dûrer Editions, Dublin, Ireland, 2021. Hardcover in blue cloth, not issued with dust jacket. First edition of 1,000 copies. SIGNED.  96 pages. Early black and white photographs from the 1970s and 1980s by Sternbach, including self-portraits, portraits, street photography, et al., most if not all taken in the New York area.  Sternbach’s work is held in major museum collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Likely signed at a book signing on December 2, 2021, at the Penumbra Foundation (New York), an announcement from which is laid in.  Summary:

Kissing a Stranger is a photography monograph by Brooklyn‑based artist Joni Sternbach. The book assembles a body of Sternbach’s early black‑and‑white photographs from the 1970s and 1980s, serving as a visual memoir of her formative years as a young photographer.

Overview and Themes

• Personal and artistic development: Rather than a straightforward documentary project, the book functions as a journal of self‑discovery in which Sternbach explores her emerging visual language through experimentation and intimate street photography. The images reflect her journey toward independence and autonomy during her time as a young art student, when she often felt both lonely and toughened by the world around her.

• Camera as protection: Sternbach has described how carrying a camera gave her a sense of armor and confidence, enabling her to engage with life directly and project her needs, desires, and vulnerabilities onto the world she photographed. This perspective shapes the emotional tenor of the work.

Content and Style

• Portraiture and urban life: The photographs include portraits of friends, family members, lovers, and strangers encountered in everyday life, especially in New York City. Many images reflect intimacy, tenderness, connection, and self‑exploration—whether through close‑up studies of faces and gestures or street scenes imbued with personal feeling.

• Diaristic quality: The book’s structure resembles a visual diary, with original captions and even a poem by Sternbach beginning with the title line, “Kissing a stranger.” The narrative is elliptical and open‑ended, prioritizing mood and memory over linear storytelling.

• Early influences visible: In venturing beyond portraiture to street photography, Sternbach’s early influences—such as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, and Garry Winogrand—surface in the work, though her images remain distinct in their focus on intimacy and emotional resonance.

Overall Impression

Kissing a Stranger is both a personal document and an artistic statement. It captures a young photographer’s struggle to find her voice and to translate her inner life into images. Through a mix of familiar faces and unnamed strangers, Sternbach creates a rich, evocative portrait of youth, connection, independence, and the evolving self.