Lynn Stern (born 1942) is an American photographer, known for her black and white photographs produced using natural light. Stern began to pursue photography as a career in the late 1970s. She lives and works in New York City. Stern's work is held in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston[1] and the Center for Creative Photography.[2]
The central concern in Stern’s work is luminosity. In 1985 she began using a naturally backlit translucent white fabric to convey the essence of light. Unveilings (1985) features flowers juxtaposed with the folds of a glowing white fabric. Whiteness (1987) focuses solely on the purity of light. Dispossession (1990–’92) is a series of 12 composite works in which human skulls are set against a luminous white fabric, in counterpoint with Stern's face portrayed as a death mask beneath them. The theme of Dispossession is not actual death, but the mind's preoccupation with it – the human struggle to cope with mortality. The Animus (1995–‘97) series, featuring animal skulls, evolved from Dispossession. Creating split-toned negative prints, Stern transformed the luminous white fabric into a rich dark color, causing the animal skulls behind it to come alive in white. In Veiled Still Lifes (1994–2003), Stern photographed vases behind a translucent black fabric, creating a dark, textured luminosity. In all of her series, the space between objects becomes as important as the objects themselves. Later series – (W)Holes, (1994–2006), Ghost Circles (2004–’07) and Full Circle (2001–’09) – furthered her work with skulls and moved increasingly toward abstraction. Five books of Stern's work have been published: Unveilings (1988), Dispossession (1995), Animus (2000), Veiled Still Lifes (2006) and Frozen Mystery (2010), which accompanied her retrospective exhibition at the Museo Fundación Cristóbal Gabarrón in Spain.[citation needed]
Stern has been married twice. She divorced architect Robert A.M. Stern in 1977; they had one son, Nicholas S. G. Stern.[4][5][6] In 1980, she married architect Jeremy Lang.[4]
Disposession. New York City: Aperture Foundation, 1995. With an essay by Donald Kuspit.
Unveilings. New York City: Hudson Hills Press, 1988. With a foreword by Paul Caponigro.
Animus. Tucson, AZ: Nazraeli Press, 2000. With an essay by Donald Kuspit.
Veiled Still Lifes. New York City: QCC Art Gallery Press. 2006. With an introduction by Nancy E Green.
Frozen Mystery. Tucson, AZ: Center for Creative Photography and Fundación Cristóbal Gabarrón, 2010. With essays by Donald Kuspit, Britt Salvesen, Stern, and George Stolz.
