Walking the High Line

In March 2000 Joel Sternfeld began photographing the High Line, an abandoned elevated railway which runs down the§West Side of Manhattan. Sometimes a river of grass, sometimes more like Canadian wheat fields, this unique ruin§permitted Sternfeld to contemplate nature within the city. Walking the path of this true-time landscape, Sternfeld experienced§the seasons as they unfolded in a meandering ribbon within the vertical architecture of New York City, and§he created a suite of images marked by quiet grace and formal rigour. In Walking the High Line, as in all of his work,§landscape is both a social and cultural indicator. In 2009 the High Line was converted into a public park that will preserve§the delights of the High Line for future generations. Sternfeld s book is thus a unique record of the High Line at§a time when it faced demolition, and this re-print follows several sold-out editions.§A major figure in the photography world, Joel Sternfeld was born in New York City in 1944. He has received numerous§awards including two Guggenheim fellowships, a Prix de Rome and the Citibank Photography Award. Sternfeld s§books published by Steidl include American Prospects (2003), Sweet Earth (2006), Oxbow Archive (2008) and§First Pictures (2011).