John Sturges (; born 1947), known as Jock Sturges, is an American photographer, best known for his images of nude

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

and their families. Sturges pled guilty in 2021 at Franklin County (MA) Superior Court to an unnatural and lascivious act with a child under 16.

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 maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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, i ...

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 San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

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 CHM Montalivet (CHM for "Centre Hélio-Marin", "center of sun and sea"), also known as CHM Monta, is the world's first naturist holiday resort located south of Montalivet, in Vendays-Montalivet, France. CHM Montalivet opened in 1950, and the In ...

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 prints. 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 its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

officers 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. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

for stocking the books, resulting in protests throughout the United States, largely inspired by conservative radio host

Randall Terry Randall Allen Terry (born 1959) is an American activist and political candidate. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue, which he later abandoned. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading t ...

. His photographs appear as cover art on three novels by Jennifer McMahon, ''

Promise Not to Tell ''Promise Not to Tell'' is a 2007 mystery novel with supernatural elements written by Vermont author Jennifer McMahon. The book was released in April 2007 in the US by Harper Paperbacks (an imprint of HarperCollins). It was released in Germany ...

'', ''Island of Lost Girls'' and ''Dismantled'', as well as

Karl Ove Knausgård Karl Ove Knausgård (; born 6 December 1968) is a Norwegian author. He became known worldwide for six autobiographical novels, titled ''My Struggle'' (''Min Kamp''). Since the completion of the ''My Struggle'' series in 2011, he has also publis ...

'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 p ...

Ute av verden ''Ute av verden'' (direct translation: Out of the World) is the 1998 debut novel by Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgård. Knausgård was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for the book. This was the first time in the award's histo ...

'' (''Out of the World''). The band

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

used some of his photographs on different releases, i.e.: the ''

Twisterella "Twisterella" is a song by the British rock band Ride. It was released as the second single from the band's second studio album ''Going Blank Again'' on 13 April 1992. It features Mark Gardener on lead vocals, who wrote its lyrics about his exper ...

'' and ''Leave them All Behind'' EPs.

Personal life

In 2021, Sturges pled 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 Northfield Mount Hermon School, often called NMH, is a co-educational preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association. Present day NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP and ...

in the mid-1970s. He was sentenced to three years' probation

Publications

Publications by Sturges

*'' The Last Day of Summer'' (1991,

Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

, 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, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerha ...

) *'' The Rollei Project (2013 Foto Henny Hoogeveen, Lisse, The Netherlands) *''Jock Sturges: Fanny'' (2014 Steidl)

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 photography Obscenity controversies Marlboro College alumni