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
Inside/ Outside Inside/ Outside Inside/ Outside Inside/ Outside Inside/ Outside

Joel Meyerowitz

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
Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains Lendemains

Joel Meyerowitz

Lendemains
Phaidon, 2006

Selected Exhibitions

Selected Exhibitions

Joel Meyerowitz A Sense of Wonder Fotografie 1962-2022

March 25th - August 24th, 2025
Santa Giulia Museum, Brescia, Italy

Transformations: American Photographs from the 1970s

January 27th - JUuy 27th, 2024
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Joel Meyerowtiz 1962-1980

November 20th, 2023 - March 16th, 2025
Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom

Why Color ?

December 9th, 2017 - March 11th, 2018
C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Early Works

July 3rd - August 27th, 2017
Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France

Une rétrospective

January 23rd - April 7th, 2013
MEP, Paris, France

Out of the Ordinary 1970 - 1980

October 3rd, 2006 - January 14th, 2007
Hotel de Sully, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France

After September 11: Images from Ground Zero.

January 3st - March 15th, 2003
Center for Documentary Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Joel Meyerowitz on the Street: The First Decade

December 3rd, 1994–March 19th, 1995
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

My European Trip: Photographs from the Car

August 3rd - September 29th, 1968
Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States