Introduction

New York City. Beloved, yet despised, it is a, if not the, cultural Mecca. That being said, it is obviously a street photographer’s utopia. The vast diversity of people and cultures, the architecture, the styles, the atmosphere, the FEEL. There is nowhere else like it in the world. I Now imagine the Big Apple in the 1960s. An incredible decade of change and cultural turbulence. And imagine seeing icons like Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, and Ted Papageorge walking the city and joining their skills. And alongside them is this week’s subject, Joel Meyerowitz. Since I’ve touched on both Winogrand and Arbus in the previous two features, let’s stay in a New York State Of Mind. Let’s go under the influence of Joel Meyerowitz.

Meyerowitz, 76, has shot street in his hometown of New York for over 50 years. Five decades of shooting in the “greatest city in the world”. That’s dedication. Meyerowitz was driven to photography by Robert Frank in 1962 when working as an art director at a studio shoot that Frank was doing. Frank’s movement had tremendous impact. He dove into street photography shortly thereafter and later began hunting in the streets with Winogrand. Meyerowitz shook up the street photography scene by starting to shoot in color. This choice went on to impact other titans like William Eggleston and Martin Parr. Meyerowitz was a Guggenheim Fellow twice, received National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities and taught at the prestigious Cooper Union. However, he didn’t really receive great notoriety until his book, Aftermath: World Trade Center, was published in 2006. The gripping work documents the cleanup at Ground Zero of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He was the only photographer granted unimpeded access to Ground Zero. Meyerowitz is still actively photographing to this day.