McLean, Virginia

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Sternfeld’s photography examines Americans and their relationship with their natural surroundings. He tends to highlight the negative, ironic, and occasionally darkly humorous aspects of this relationship, as shown in the tragicomic color photograph McLean, Virginia. Sternfeld depicts a charming southern country house going up in flames, while a fireman at the vegetable stand in front of the house patiently waits to buy some of nature's bounty. In truth, this was an abandoned house set aflame as a practice exercise for the firemen, a fact known to the artist but not to the casual viewer. In this way, Sternfeld also shows that the camera's eye is not always truthful.