Joel Meyerowitz

born in New York, in Bronx, in 1938

Joel Meyerowitz (b. 1938) was born in New York City and began taking photographs in 1962. Although he has always seen himself as a street photographer in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank (he is the co-author of the standard work on the genre, Bystander: A History of Street Photography, 1994) he transformed the mode with his pioneering use of color.  As an early advocate of color photography (mid-60’s), Meyerowitz was instrumental in changing the attitude toward the use of color photography from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance.
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Meyerowitz’s  first book, Cape Light (1978), is a much beloved classic of color photography and has sold more than 150,000 copies. And in Wild Flowers (1983) he also demonstrated a comic appreciation for the blending of nature and artifice on ordinary city streets. He later turned his attention to portraits (Redheads, 1991), and landscape (Tuscany: Inside the Light, 2003). More recently, Meyerowitz has spent three years capturing wild areas in New York City's parks. Selections from the project were exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York (2009-10), and they have been published in Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks (Aperture, 2009).
 

Meyerowitz  was the only photographer to be given unimpeded access to Ground Zero in the wake of 9/11. The images he captured have formed the foundation of a major national archive, and an exhibition of selected images has travelled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries.
 

Throughout his career, Meyerowitz  has since produced over a dozen books, and a full survey of his career was published by Phaidon in 2010. Additionally, in 1998 he produced and directed his first film, Pop, an intimate diary of a three-week road trip made with his son, Sasha, and his aging father, Hy.
 

Among Meyerowitz’s   first important exhibitions were those at Eastman House, Rochester, in 1966, and "My European Trip" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1968. He represented the United States at the Venice Biennale for Architecture in 2002, and he has been the recipient of over a dozen awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis. His work can be found in many major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

© Joel Meyerowitz. 

Exhibitions at Polka Galerie

Exhibitions at Polka Galerie

Panorama Panorama Panorama Panorama Panorama

Joel Meyerowitz

Panorama
May 26 - July 29, 2023
Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside

Joel Meyerowitz

Joel Meyerowitz Exhibition Inside/ Outside
November 8, 2018 - January 12, 2019
Taking My Time Part II Taking My Time Part II Taking My Time Part II Taking My Time Part II Taking My Time Part II

Joel Meyerowitz

Taking My Time Part II
January 12 - March 11 2017
Taking my time Taking my time Taking my time Taking my time Taking my time

Joel Meyerowitz

Taking my time
November 5 - December 21 2016

Selected Publications

A Question of Color A Question of Color A Question of Color A Question of Color A Question of Color

Joel Meyerowitz

A Question of Color
Thames&Hudson, 2023
Redheads Redheads Redheads Redheads Redheads

Joel Meyerowitz

Redheads
Damiani, 2022
Waterfront Waterfront Waterfront Waterfront Waterfront

Joel Meyerowitz

Waterfront
Polka Editions 2021
Wild Flowers Wild Flowers Wild Flowers Wild Flowers Wild Flowers

Joel Meyerowitz

Wild Flowers
Damiani, 2021
Provincetown Provincetown Provincetown Provincetown Provincetown

Joel Meyerowitz

Provincetown
Aperture, 2019
Between the dog and the wolf Between the dog and the wolf Between the dog and the wolf Between the dog and the wolf Between the dog and the wolf

Joel Meyerowitz

Between the dog and the wolf
Super Labo, 2019
Retrospection Retrospection Retrospection Retrospection Retrospection

Joel Meyerowitz

Retrospection
Textuel, 2018
Out of the darkness Out of the darkness Out of the darkness Out of the darkness Out of the darkness

Joel Meyerowitz

Out of the darkness
La Fabrica, 2018
Bystander Bystander Bystander Bystander Bystander

Joel Meyerowitz

Bystander
Laurence King, 2017
Cape Light Cape Light Cape Light Cape Light Cape Light

Joel Meyerowitz

Cape Light
Aperture, 2015
Glimpse Glimpse Glimpse Glimpse Glimpse

Joel Meyerowitz

Glimpse
Super Labo, 2014
Aftermath Aftermath Aftermath Aftermath Aftermath

Joel Meyerowitz

Aftermath
Phaidon, 2006
Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains

Joel Meyerowitz

Lendemains
Phaidon, 2006