American Surfaces

Photographer Stephen Shore's ground-breaking and largely unpublished series of photographs from 1972-3, took documentary photography to a new level. First exhibited at the cutting edge New York City Light Gallery, this visual diary of Shore's travels across the United States confounded critics. Displayed as hundreds and hundreds of color photographs, processed simply at Kodak labs in New Jersey, they bore stark contrast to the formal, black-and-white prints that were recognized as art photography at the time. And, since its break-through MoMA exhibition where 220 of Shore's images were shown, American Surfaces has become a benchmark for documenting 'American culture'.