Joel Meyerowitz

Caleb McQuillin

Table of Contents

• Background.………………………………. 3 - 6• Street Photography…………………….. 7

- 8• A Change In Direction……………….. 9 -

10• 9/11 and Aftermath…………………….. 11

– 12• Awards………………………………………..

13• Keeping Tabs………………………………

14• Resources…………………………………...

15

Background

Meyerowitz was born in 1932. As an adult, heworked as an art director in New York City.However, he always wanted something more.One day, he received an assignment to shadowphotographer Robert Frank.

Background (cont.)

Meyerowitz watched Frank weaving aroundthe room and was entranced. He knew that this is what he wanted to do. He didn’t returnto the office that day. He had found that pho-tagrophy was his calling.

Background (cont.)

The early 60’s mostly frowned upon colorphotographs, but Meyerowitz was an advocatefrom the moment he picked up a camera. Hisfavored genre was street photography. Heloved watching the flow of the street life.

Background (cont.)

Meyerowitz began with a philosophy. His goalwas to avoid any commercialized work for fearof narrowing his focus too much. Meyerowitzwanted to put the entire world in his camera.Starting with the streets.

Street Photography

What is street photography?It’s the art of capturing any special event ormoment in the street, as it happens. No photois staged. This is achieved by a special kind ofpremonition of when to take each picture.

Street Photography (cont.)

This is one of Meyerowitz’s most popularphotos, and the perfect example of street photography. Every person in this picture ismoving. There is no stop to the action of thestreet, even to help the fallen man.

A Change in Direction

In 1976, Meyerowitz bought a new camera (an8 x 10) and a tripod to improve his pictures. He spent the summer with his family at Cape Cod. This setting is as radically different fromthe streets of New York as possible.

A Change in Direction (cont.)

Meyerowitz was proud enough of his work torelease a book compilation, Cape Cod. This was his first book, and is still considered a classic work of color photography. It has soldmore than 100,000 copies universally.

9/11 and Aftermath

Just days after 9/11, Meyerowitz was invited toGround Zero to archive the destruction of theWorld Trade Center and the recovery work onsite. He was the only photographer allowedunrestricted access to Ground Zero.

9/11 and Aftermath (cont.)

After his time at Ground Zero, Meyerowitz had compiled over 8,000 images in his “WorldTrade Center Archive.” The U.S. Departmentof State put on 35 exhibitions of this archivearound the globe, with over 4 million viewers.

Awards

• Guggenheim Fellow (2 time recipient)• National Endowment for the Arts award• National Endowment for the Humanities award• Deutscher Fotobuchpreis (German photobook prize)

Keeping Tabs

Joel is still active today. You can keep up with him on

Facebook, Twitter, or his website (joelmeyerowitz.com)

Resources

• "Joel Meyerowitz." Edelman Gallery. Edelman Gallery, n.d. Web. 6 Jul 2012. • <http://www.edelmangallery.com/archive11.htm>.

• "Joel Meyerowitz Biography." iN-PUBLiC. iN-PUBLiC, n.d. Web. 6 Jul 2012. • <http://www.in-public.com/JoelMeyerowitz>

• JoelMeyerowitz.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jul 2012. • <http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/photography/index.html>.

• Gluek, Grace. "ART IN REVIEW; Joel Meyerowitz." nytimes.com. The New York Times, 2000. Web. 6 Jul 2012. • <http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/13/arts/art-in-review-joel-meyerowitz.html>.