Lee Sternthal is a photographer, filmmaker, and visual artist whose work explores the tension between memory and presence. Rooted in cinema but freed from traditional narrative, his images capture atmosphere, color, and gesture in moments that feel both composed and unguarded. Drawing on the visual languages of Eggleston, Tarkovsky, and Wong Kar-wai, Sternthal works in a mode he describes as spontaneous formalism—emotionally precise, psychologically charged, and instinctively edited.
His photographs have appeared in Vice, The Trace et al. He has served as the Artist In Residence at the Soho House, and appears in private collections across the U.S. and Europe.
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I’ve made things that were seen by millions.
I’ve made things that no one will ever see.
Both matter to me.
What you'll find if you search for me is a fraction of the story.
It's not wrong. It’s just unfinished, and it misses almost all of the real things that make up a life.
I’m still doing the work. Still paying attention. Still believing in the quiet value of noticing something closely and sharing it honestly.
This is the shape it takes now—images, words, time.