Joel Meyerowitz
born in 1938, New York
Biography:
Joel Meyerowitz was born in 1938 in Bronx, New York City. He is a street photographer of many well known accomplishments and awards, and an author of about 18 books. In 1959, Joel Meyerowitz graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in painting and a degree in medical illustration as well. He often took pictures in black and white but in 1962 he began using color. To take his photographs he often uses a 8x10 large format camera. He has archives of his photos and his most well-known archive is one of photos he took from ground zero. Joel Meyerowitz is still alive today and has created a traveling exhibition called, "Out of the Ordinary 1970-1980." The exhibition first premiered in Paris, France but is now in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece. He created a visual documentation of the New York City Parks; it was the first one created since the 1930's. He has received an NEA and NEH award two times and has received the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis (a German Photo book Prize, it is a group of rewards to honor authors, publishers and graphic designers.)Meyerowitz has appeared in over 350 exhibitions around the world. Many of his work is shown at the Museum of Modern Art and at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His work can be seen at many other museums as well.
About his work:
“…Photography is a response that has to do with the momentary recognition of things. Suddenly you’re alive. A minute later there was nothing there. I just watched it evaporate. You look one moment and there’s everything, next moment it’s gone. Photography is very philosophical.” — Joel Meyerowitz
September 11, 2001 Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer with permission to enter ground zero right after the attack on the World Trade Center; there, he took photographs and later published an archive of those photographs. Meyerowitz uses his photographs of 9/11 as a way to show that something could be gone in an instant but if we have the photographs we can always see it as it was. He also uses different techniques to make the picture looks dark and dreary but beautiful at the same time. His techniques with these photographs can bring about a mixture of emotions and views on this attack. Many of these images from September 11th, 2001 have been made into a book for all to see. His works show the beauty in city scenes and the beauty in tragedies. Some of his pictures were inspired by olympic divers; he examines the elements of earth (Earth, fire, water, and wind) to take some of his other pictures.
What attracted me to this photographer:
What attracted me to this photographer was his photos from ground zero right after the attack on the world trade center on 9/11/01. The way he took the pictures made the whole scene organized yet chaotic at the same time. My opinion of his work is that the pictures from 9/11 are intense and bring beauty to the tragedy. A lot of Joel Meyerowitz's photos bring out beauty in everyday life and the nature. For example; he has pictures from cities but he brings out the nature and beauty in that city.
About his work:
“…Photography is a response that has to do with the momentary recognition of things. Suddenly you’re alive. A minute later there was nothing there. I just watched it evaporate. You look one moment and there’s everything, next moment it’s gone. Photography is very philosophical.” — Joel Meyerowitz
September 11, 2001 Joel Meyerowitz was the only photographer with permission to enter ground zero right after the attack on the World Trade Center; there, he took photographs and later published an archive of those photographs. Meyerowitz uses his photographs of 9/11 as a way to show that something could be gone in an instant but if we have the photographs we can always see it as it was. He also uses different techniques to make the picture looks dark and dreary but beautiful at the same time. His techniques with these photographs can bring about a mixture of emotions and views on this attack. Many of these images from September 11th, 2001 have been made into a book for all to see. His works show the beauty in city scenes and the beauty in tragedies. Some of his pictures were inspired by olympic divers; he examines the elements of earth (Earth, fire, water, and wind) to take some of his other pictures.
What attracted me to this photographer:
What attracted me to this photographer was his photos from ground zero right after the attack on the world trade center on 9/11/01. The way he took the pictures made the whole scene organized yet chaotic at the same time. My opinion of his work is that the pictures from 9/11 are intense and bring beauty to the tragedy. A lot of Joel Meyerowitz's photos bring out beauty in everyday life and the nature. For example; he has pictures from cities but he brings out the nature and beauty in that city.
Bay/Sky, Provincetown
1976-77
Truro
1977
4th and Market
St Louis, 1977
The Twin Towers
2001
The Twin Towers
2001
sources:
- Masters of Photography http://www.masters-of-photography.com/
- http://www.phaidon.com/aftermath/pdf/JoelBio.pdf
- Joel Meyerowitz Photography http://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/photography/biography.html
