John Sturges (; born 1947), known as Jock Sturges, is an American photographer, best known for his images of
nudist colony residents, particularly
prepubescent children and
early adolescents with their parents in
Gascogne France and
Northern California
Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
.
Early life and education
Sturges was born in 1947 in New York. From 1966 to 1970, he served in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
as a Russian linguist. He graduated with a BFA in
Perceptual psychology
Perceptual psychology is a subfield of cognitive psychology that concerns the conscious and unconscious innate aspects of the human cognitive system: perception.
A pioneer of the field was James J. Gibson. One major study was that of affordances ...
and Photography from
Marlboro College
Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998, the colle ...
and received an MFA in photography from the
San Francisco Art Institute.
Career
His subjects are nude adolescents and their families, primarily taken at communes in Northern California and at the Atlantic-coast naturist resort
CHM Montalivet in Vendays-Montalivet. Much of his work features California resident Misty Dawn, whom he shot from when she was a child until in her twenties.
Sturges primarily works with a large 8x10-inch-format view camera. He has taken some digital photographs but prefers to work with film.
His work has been the subject of controversy in the United States. In 1990, his San Francisco studio was raided by
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agents and his equipment seized. A grand jury subsequently declined to bring an indictment against him.
In 1998, unsuccessful attempts were made to have his books ''
The Last Day of Summer'' and ''
Radiant Identities'' classed as child pornography in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Customers in Alabama and Tennessee sued
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States.
Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
for stocking the books, resulting in protests throughout the United States, largely inspired by conservative radio host
Randall Terry
Randall Allen Terry (born April 25, 1959) is an American politician and activist. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Save America, Operation Rescue. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading th ...
.
His photographs appear as cover art on three novels by
Jennifer McMahon, ''
Promise Not to Tell'', ''Island of Lost Girls'' and ''Dismantled'', as well as
Karl Ove Knausgård's 1998
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
''
Ute av verden'' (''Out of the World''). The band
Ride used some of his photographs on different releases, i.e.: the ''
Twisterella'' and ''
Leave Them All Behind'' EPs.
Personal life
In 2021, Sturges pleaded guilty in Franklin County (MA) Superior Court to an unnatural and lascivious act with a child under 16 when he was a dorm head at the
Northfield Mount Hermon School in the mid-1970s. He was sentenced to three years' probation.
Publications
Publications by Sturges
*''
The Last Day of Summer'' (1991,
Aperture
In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
, NY)
*''
Radiant Identities'' (1994, Aperture, NY)
*''Evolution of Grace'' (1994, Gakken, Tokyo)
*''Jock Sturges'' (1996, Scalo, Zürich)
*''Jock Sturges: New Work, 1996–2000'' (2000, Scalo, Zürich)
*''Jock Sturges: Twenty-Five Years'' (2004, Paul Cava Fine Art, Bala Cynwyd, PA)
*''Jock Sturges: Notes'' (2004, Aperture, NY)
*''
Misty Dawn: Portrait of a Muse'' (2008, Aperture, NY)
*''Jock Sturges: Life Time'' (2008
Steidl
Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks.
Overview
The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...
)
*''The Rollei Project (2013 Foto Henny Hoogeveen, Lisse, The Netherlands)''
*''Jock Sturges: Fanny'' (2014 Steidl)
*''The Leica Project (2019 Foto Henny Hoogeveen, Lisse, The Netherlands)''
Other noted publications include
*''Montage'' (Graham Webb International)
*''Standing on Water'' (1991, Catalogue of portfolio published by Paul Cava Fine Art, Philadelphia)
*''Jock Sturges Color'' (Catalogue of portfolio published by Ataraxia, Bensalem)
Films
*''Line of Beauty and Grace'' (2007, Amadelio) – documentary
References
External links
*amadelio
Interview with Jock Sturges, Montalivet, France July 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturges, Jock
1947 births
Living people
American erotic photographers
American portrait photographers
Nude photographers
Obscenity controversies
Marlboro College alumni