The Biography of a Famous Photographer, Joel Meyerowitz

Joel Meyerowitz is one of the most amazing photographer that I have had the pleasure of researching. Joel is to be considered a street photographer that really began in mid-nineteenth-century. His work is just simply breathtaking and unbelievably visually captivating. Joel paved the road along with others to develop the photography field in street photography and known “as one of the great exponents of colour photography in latter half of the 20th century.” (Independent UK) Joel Meyerowitz is a pioneer in the field of photography. In this paper we will take a closer look of two of Joel Meyerowitz’s work that are breathtaking and powerful, Dusk, New Jersey (1978) and Five more found, New York (2001).

Joel Meyerowitz was born in the month of March in 1938 in New York. Joel studied at Ohio State University for painting and medical drawing and received a Bachelors in Fine Arts in 1959. After finishing his schooling Joel Meyerowitz went on to work at an advertising company where he was the art director. This is where Joel met Robert Frank during a project, and his eyes were opened to a whole new world of photography and his life was to change drastically. During the project with Robert Frank, Joel could see that life was in movement you can capture it with the camera. This sparked Joel to begin practicing photography, which mainly contained of black and white “Street photography”. Joel wanted to capture the small interactions in everyday life and bring out the beauty in it. It wasn’t until about 1976 when he was primarily taking color photographs.

About two year after finding his niche in the photography world be began creating collections of photographs for producing books. The first book that Joel published was Cape Light in 1978, and one of his most recent and most powerful book, Aftermath in 2006. Joel Meyerowitz has not only been publishing books but he has also been featured in many exhibits, whether it was solo or group. Joel Meyerowitz to this day is still located in New York at the age of eighty years old. Even to this day Joel’s work is being displayed all around the nation in galleries.

The first piece of work I want to take a closer look at is Dusk, New Jersey 1978. I wanted to take a look at something that was something close to his early years but still showing his talent in color. Now one of the things I love about Joel’s work is that naming his pieces are the location and time, that way he is capturing that moment in the location.

In Dusk, New Jersey 1978, at first glance you see a community at dusk. When you begin to look at it closer you see that there is a row of trees that line up perfectly and run along the road in the center of the photograph. You also begin to see how the darkness is slowly over taking the street. On the left side of the street there is a business with their lights shining out to the street. One the right there is a white house with a few windows lit.

In Dusk, New Jersey 1798, your focus is immediately drawn to the center of the photograph, where the trees stand. Since dusk is falling the row of trees are thrown into darkness causing the absent of light to draw your eyes to the darkness. What I really enjoy about this photograph is that the light is surrounding they center of the photograph. The photograph seems to be shot with a wider lens because the objects relations to each other seem to be closer to each even when far away. “One characteristic of wide-angle lenses is how they appear to stretch perspective, distorting the relationship between near and far objects.” (Hoddinott, Ross)

Interpretations of art is personal and unique to everyone. My interpretation of Dusk, New Jersey 1978, is just showing that even in darkness there is light. The photograph’s center lack of light but the light from around it gives it some light. So even when you feel that there is no hope, remember that light can always come through. There is also peacefulness in the photograph, I get sense that the word in the photograph is turning in for the night. I find this photograph to be so visually stunning with how the lights don’t seen to take away from the darkness.

The second piece we are looking at is Five more found, New York 2001. Now this has to be one of the most powerful photographs that Joel has ever shot. In this photograph you see a huge crowd of people on top of building ruins at night. Not only do you see the crowd of people and the ruins but you see a glowing orange glow in the center of it all. You can also still see smoke and dust rising to the air. This photograph was taken after the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001.

The first thing that catches your attention when looking at the photograph Five more found, New York 2001 is the massive group of first responders in a pile of debris. The focus of the image is to show how everyone came together to help each other. The lighting in the photograph lights up the group of people where the darkness is slowing embracing the ruins of the world trade center. The visual of people trying to get people out of the wreckage is just so powerful. Seeing the wreckage and the destruction of lives is so haunting. “But this perspective is thoughtfully reworked in Meyerowitz's images, which use scale, colour and frame to manipulate our viewing; our eyes move across the images- searching for what, we may not be sure, but mimicking the search going on in the images by the rescue workers and others at the scene.” (Kennedy pg. 36)

The pure raw emotion you feel when you see this photograph is sadness. The tragic events that occurred that day is captured in this photograph as they found more people buried in the debris. I was overwhelmed with this desire to show this to everyone I knew, which was what I feel Joel intended. Joel captures everyday life on the streets so that we can cherish and remember those small moments. So when something huge happens to us not just as a person but as a nation, he wanted us to see everything, big and small. Not only does it give an overwhelming feeling of sadness I see people coming together for a cause, there is hopefulness hidden in there. This was one of the most devastating days for us as a nation, but it brought us together and became stronger.

There are many reasons to why I chose Joel Meyerowitz. One of them is that he was inspired and took a huge risk in pursuing something he wasn’t familiar with. Another reason why I chose Joel was that he was a pioneer with colored photography. Black and white photographs was the norm, he pushed the boundaries and experimented with color. His work is just so captivating, because he was able a capture the small events in everyday life. “I wondered the streets not knowing what I was shooting, I just knew I needed to be out there watching life, because I was interested in a way people did things. ” (Dunn)

Work Citied:

1. “In the Frame." Independent (UK), 30 Jan. 2016.
2. Hoddinott, and Ross. “LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION.” Digital SLR Photography, 2016, pp. 5–17.
3. Kennedy , Liam. “Stealing Beauty .” New Statesman , 6 May 2002, p. 36.