A surface reconstruction technique based on minimization of the total variation of the gradient is introduced. Convergence of the method is established, and an interior-point algorithm solving the associated linear programming problem is introduced. The reconstruction algorithm is illustrated on various test cases including natural and urban terrain data, and enhancement of low-resolution or aliased images. Key words. finite elements, L1-minimization, interior-point algorithm, data reconstruction, digital elevation models, image enhancement AMS subject classifications. 41A29, 65N30, 90C25 DOI. 10.1137/09075408X