The other side of the lens.

Over the years, I have had my photo taken many times by Montauk’s beloved Joni Sternbach. She takes tintype photos, and processes the plates on the beach, out of the back of her car. I interviewed Joni for ‘The Usual’ and have always loved the look on everyone’s faces. After literally begging her to let me pose, I now know that it’s because all her subjects are so nervous that they are going to blink when she takes the photo, and therefore ruin it. The first photo ended up in the New York Times Photography section and is now hanging on a wall in the  Nelson-Atkins Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO. I asked Joni what it was like to photograph me. This is what she kindly said:

I particularly enjoyed photographing you, not only because you're so charming, and were willing to give me the time (which as you know, takes lots of time) but because of your spunkiness and frankness. You just say what’s on your mind, and your curiosity and interest help to make good pictures!

In an age of photographic advancements, Joni Sternbach keeps it old school, using one of portraiture’s earliest processes to capture surfers in their natural element. On a bluff in Montauk one late afternoon, Sternbach watched the clouds part, light flood the horizon, and low sun bounce off the ocean surface. It was the shot of a lifetime—until surfers entered her frame, enjoying a majestic moment of their own. The happy accident gave life to her tintype portrait series, “Surfland.” After begging Joni to take our photo, we turned our lens on her to learn more.
[Part of The Usual Conversations series. Shot on iPhone]