Joel Meyerowitz Exhibit at Howard Greenberg

This article was originally published on my Typepad blog on November 10, 2012

I went yesterday to a retrospective of Joel Meyerowitz' work at the Howard Greenberg Gallery on 57th Street. It was a large sprawling exhibit (there were photos on the floor and on shelves as assistants and curators ran among the visitors moving works about) and probably as complete a view of the photographer's oeuvre as we are likely to get.

Meyerowitz is known primarily for his early adoption of color for use in street photography. But there's much more to his work than the use of color. A native of the Bronx, Meyerowitz' love of NYC can be seen in almost every shot. Seeing his photos placed side by side, the viewer becomes more aware of a gentle sense of humor and irony that pervades his highly personal photography. He's also done important work, as can be seen in Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, in documenting and helping to preserve the beauty and wildness still to be found in public parks in NYC. Meyerowitz also photographed the aftermath of 9/11 and, according to the Wikipedia article, "was the only photographer allowed unrestricted access to its 'ground zero' immediately following the attack."

As far as street photography, Meyerowitz literally wrote the book. His 1994 Bystander: A History of Street Photography, written with Colin Westerbeck, is really the seminal study of its subject. In it, the authors display a deep understanding and sympathy for the work of the photographers shown. 

In looking at the work now on display, I was drawn to the black & white photos from Meyerowitz' early career. A curator confirmed for me that these were all vintage prints with only two exceptions. Unfortunately, those two are the most iconic photos shown. One is the photo of a woman smoking a cigarette at a lunch counter and the other of the movie ticket seller whose face is obscured by a round speaking grill directly in front of it. While it's understandable that vintage prints for these photos could not have been located after so many years, I think it would have been more appropriate to have made prints in a wet darkroom from the negatives rather than having resorted to the use of digital printing.

Due to Meyerowitz' enormous output of the years, the exhibit at Howard Greenberg is in two parts. The first, covering the years 1962 to 1977, will be on display until December 1, 2012. The second half will be shown from December 7, 2012 through January 5, 2013. A handsomely produced two-volume limited edition catalog, containing a signed print, accompanies the exhibit.