San Fernando, California

Joe Deal was a leading figure of the new wave of American photographers in the 1970s who broke with the romantic landscape tradition. In stark contrast to the breathtaking beauty of the American west portrayed by previous generations of photographers, Deal's images coolly survey a landscape that has been reshaped by human hands. This selection of photographs, for example, shows traces of new construction that subtly interrupt the image-a mound of dirt, a telephone wire, a road, a fragment of concrete or a porch. His photographs take a hard look at the contradictions in American culture - and particularly the conflict between the old bucolic image of America and its determined expansion as it has grown into a wealthy industrial power.