Joel Meyerowitz

“We think of photography as pictures. And it is. But I think of photography as ideas. And do the pictures sustain your ideas or are they just good pictures? I want to have an experience in the world that is a deepening experience, that makes me feel alive and awake and conscious.” – Joel Meyerowitz

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Spinning Chirstmas Tree, New York City, 1977

Considering himself as a 'street photographer' this piece of work is unusual to be showing up in his collection of photographs. This photo was clearly taken with a slow shutter speed, capturing most of the colourful light but blurring the ornaments and lights.  Although Pattern is suppose to create a sense of unity, in this case it opposes that; there are multiple different patterns showing up throughout the photograph, however they are all different. The different patterns are 'fighting' one another and just create conflict in the photograph. The converging lines of the two walls meeting together draw your eyes straight to the focal point: the tree. 

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A tired friend gets a lift in New York, 1965 Meyerowitz has a gift when it comes to capturing ordinary circumstances on the street. This is composition is called: the diagonal. The diagonal line is the most dynamic of thee three types of line (Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagonal). And the intersecting lines match up the focal point, their faces. Intersecting points (like rule of thirds) makes the composition more interesting and are pleasant to look at. 

- Line: which creates texture

-Depth of Field: Large 

Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson 

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New York City, 1963

I think what makes a memorable photograph is one that has a sense of emotion, a feeling that we can relate to or with. This photo is taken with a large aperture setting, there is a very small depth of field. The lack of clarity coming from the low contrast creates a sense of uncertainty and intimacy, as if we wanted to go up to the subject and comfort her. The lack of spread values means the screeching emotions of the young child is in a sense muted. Framing is much harder to achieve today in modern photograph and can be quite intriguing. However we do not seem to see it as much in contemporary photography. Framing is a great tool that Meyerowitz seems to do quite a bit; drawing attention to the subject of the image by blocking other parts of the image with something in the scene. The photo is given much more depth and layers, the window in the foreground adds extra dimension. 

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New York City, 1963

A street photographer is to be socially aware and socially engaged with the rest of the world. If we always put the aesthetic over the socially and morally important parts of photography– we will only be stuck in making beautiful photographs that are vacant of significance. I would just like to point out this photograph is taken in 1963, when segregation was alive and well in America. This photograph is atypical to what we usually see when it comes to picture of 'segregation' and breaks the boundaries for that time period. 

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Joel Meyerowitz, the only photographer at Ground Zero remembers the days after September 11

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Two photographs from Meyerowitz's collection: "After September 11: Images from Ground Zero”

Relate the catastrophic destruction of the attacks to the physical, human dimensions of the recovery effort. Each is its own, succinct reminder of the magnitude of destruction and loss brought by the attacks, and the heroic nature of the response. Together, they serve as a stunning reminder of that extraordinary day, and the days that followed.

Both these photographs seem to be taken with a wide angle lens, to record the massive amount of wreckage the attack on the world trade centre caused. I was bewildered with these two photographs because space seems to be flattened and the buildings look very 'doll-house like'. That made me believe that these photos were taken with a longer telephoto lens, however the angle of view is not narrow and the subject does not seem to be too far away. So this still remains a question to me. 

In the second photograph the blue-ish purple-ish colour of the setting sky and the orange and yellow flames of the fire makes for a very vivid image. If one colour is dominant and the other occupies only a small part of the frame, you are – paradoxically – making the colour contrast stronger, not weaker. 

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Joel Meyerowitz Finding More Fireman 2001 Vintage contact print Collection Miami Art Museum, gift of Charles S. and Elynne B. Zucker

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This photograph was taken the night the terror attacks on the World Trade Centre took place. Joel Meyerowitz was given the very special privilege of being the only photographer allowed boundless access the the 9/11 grounds. His photographs are now permeant installations at the 9/11 memorial. “I was making photographs for everyone who didn’t have access to the site,” says Meyerowitz, “I wanted to communicate what it felt like to be in there as well as what it looked like: to show the pile’s incredible intricacy and visceral power. I could provide a window for everyone else who wanted to be there, too, to help, or to grieve, or simply to try to understand what had happened to our city.” There are no words to really describe this photograph, and I would definitely not use the word beautiful to describe it. Since there is really no shape, form, line or colour, the only principle of design used in this photograph is texture. I believe the texture of the rubble is subdued but it does add much impact, depth and a sense of reality to the photo.

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Paris, France

In one of his interview, Joel Meyerowitz explains that he loves to take photos in street corners, since the most unexpected, things such as a simple gesture can happen at any time. The focal point of this photo is a man in the midst of a dramatic fall. It is a very interesting composition since a man has fallen and it seems like there is no one trying to help him. Like Joel Meyerowitz wants you to do, this photograph makes you think, it makes you feel bad for the fallen, possibly hurt man. Although, Meyerowitz is a professional photographer, the image seems slightly skewed; when looking at the photograph I tilt my head a little. Like all of his other photos, there is a tint of colour in the background, in this photograph there is a cool blueish greenish filter over the photograph. There is a sense of chaos and energy in the photo, I believe its create through the people, cars and the way the camera is positioned. The line created by the buildings in the streets leads your eye throughout the whole entire photograph. The lines help create a sense of calm throughout the storm. 

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Gold Corner, New York City, 1974

This photo is taken on a street corner in the bustling and bright streets of New York City. The focal point of this photo, is a young lady in blue holding her hat. She adds some sort of mystery by holding her hat in such a way that you cannot see her eyes; the other bystanders are looking directly at her, drawing your eye in to the woman. This photo was taken in the pioneer stage on colour photography, however I think the clarity and beauty of this photo is amazing for the time. The photo does not look retouched in anyways, since there was probably no program allowing people to retouch photos, such as photoshop. There is a golden, orangish hue in the photo, hence the name "Golden Corner". The sense of balance used is the photo is asymmetrical, since the focal point is off center. As the two spectators are framing the focal point (young woman in blue). The bright and fun patterns of the 70's add interest and variety to the photo. The people walking towards and away from the focal point, adds some sort of excitement to the photo by drawing the eye across the plane of the photo.