Joel Meyerowitz (born March 1938)
Continuing research on street photographers suggested by my tutor, I have been looking at Joel Meyerowitz, of whom to my embarrassment I had no previous knowledge.
Meyerowitz was inspired to take up photography by seeing Robert Frank work at first hand on a commercial shoot back in 1962. Also influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, in the ‘60’s he was a contemporary of Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus shooting solely in Black & White. In 1972 was one of the first street photographers to switch only to colour film, which is where his work deviated from his contemporaries and the photographers who influenced him.
Watching the 1981 Documentary on Meyerowitz gives a fascinating insight into the mind and work ethic of a street photographer. Meyerowitz talks about shooting every day and “paying your dues” these are wise words to any inspiring street photographer.
Shooting mainly in New York he works in an unplanned way, using his powers of observation to capture what each day gave him.
From looking at the photographs in the iN-PUBLIC gallery, there is a fairly non-confrontational style to the photography, with observations of shapes and colours of daily life, much different to Bruce Gilden or his own contemporary Gary Winograd.
He appears to have used a high contrast film with the color reminiscent of Kodachrome 64, which has lead to sharp shadows. I many shot he has used long shadows and this has enhanced these shots.
Colour is important in the images – Meyerowitz developed his style specifically for colour film and how it captures the scene and this is very evident in the pictures.
The images are in the iN-PUBLIC are all very clearly shot in New York and this help to keep a balance to tie the images together.
I like the style of Meyerowitz shots if I’m not too impressed with the person; he comes across of a little pretentious. However, the use of colour in the images is inspiring, the less confrontational style may suit me a bit more, therefore, It something I will keep in mind on upcoming shoots.
Bibliography
WIKIPEDIA. 2015. Joel Meyerowitz. [online]. [Accessed 24 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Meyerowitz>
IN-PUBLIC. Joel Meyerowitz Bio. [online]. [Accessed 24 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.in-public.com/JoelMeyerowitz>
MEYEROWITZ, Joel. Joel Meyerowitz Gallery. [online]. [Accessed 24 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.in-public.com/JoelMeyerowitz/gallery/53>
WESTERBECK, Colin L Jnr. 1981. Joel Meyerowitz Photographer. [online]. [Accessed 24 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDSGWy1CU78>
SWEET, Michael Earnst. 2015. Half a century of making photographs: A conversation with Joel Meyerowitz. [online]. [Accessed 24 Aug 2015]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-ernest-sweet/half-a-century-of-making-_b_7844038.html>