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| Higašikawy, Cena, Joel Meyerowitz, 1987. |
As noted in "Part I" of this Pho·tog Friday, Joel Meyerowitz is an award winning contemporary photographer who played a significant role in the advancement of color photography in the fine art world. In 1972, Meyerowitz permanently adapted to using color film for his work. It's important to note that Meyerowitz's decision to switch permanently to color film occurred four years before the then little-known (and now well-known) color photographer, William Eggleston, had an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where he solely displayed his color work.
During this time, Meyerowitz not moved away from black and white film, but he stepped away from shooting with his 35mm Leica camera and began taking photographs with an 8x10 camera to capture portraits and places. In 1979, Meyerowitz published a photography book titled Cape Light: Color Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz or just Cape Light, for short. The book played a significant role with how the fine art community viewed color photographs. Referencing the start of this project, Meyerowitz states in an interview with Leica, "...so I went and bought an 8×10 and I took myself away to Provincetown on
Cape Cod because Provincetown is a little bit like 8th Street in New
York – you have real street life and you have nature" (Meyerowitz, 2012).
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| Meyerowitz, Joel, from Cape Light, 1979. |
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| Meyerowitz, Joel, from Cape Light, 1979. |
Secluding himself on the Cape for a while, allowed for Meyerowitz to get "to know" his new 8x10 camera a little better. When asked to describe the difference between shooting with a 35mm Leica and the 8x10 camera, Meyerowitz states, "It transforms your way of looking at the world. First of all it is
upside down, which is a whole other way of relating to things. And a
wonderful way too because it sort of takes the content out of the
context so now you are looking at it for something about the weights and
the feelings. It’s not composition; it’s about how you know the
push/pull of it. Whereas with the Leica on the street the immediacy, the
sense that something is actually happening and you are in the moment
with it so that when you reach out with the camera, you are part of it
and it disappears instantly" (Meyerowitz, 2012).
Stay tuned for Part III of this Pho·tog Friday series as we look deeper into the life and work of Joel Meyerowitz!
01. "Joel Meyerowitz." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 May 2014. Web. 30 May 2014.
02. "Joel Meyerowitz: Icon with a Leica." The Leica Camera. Leica, n.d. Web. 30 May 2014.
03. "Joel Meyerowitz Photography, LLC." Joel Meyerowitz Photography, LLC. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2014.