Joel Meyerowitz Survey

Joel Meyerowitz was born in New York City in 1938 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 transformed the genre with his pioneering use of colour. An early advocate of colour photography, Meyerowitz was instrumental in changing the attitude toward its use from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance.

This exhibition displays a number of early black-and-white images by Meyerowitz that captured the attention of influential curators. Also included are early colour works taken in Europe in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which illustrate his mastery of composing with colour and form. Key photographs from the artist’s famed series Cape Light illustrate his ability to transform the elements of light and colour into content. Lastly, a suite of recently commissioned images—taken in the studio of famed Italian still-life painter Giorgio Morandi—reveal a photographer still in his prime.