May 23, 2017 |
When you think of street photography, when you scrunch up your eyes and try to conjure up an image that best represents this broad and beautiful art form, there’s a good chance that the image you’re thinking of was taken by Joel Meyerowitz. Inspired by the legendary photographer Robert Frank, Meyerowitz quit his nine-to-five (we presume) job as art director at an advertising agency to take to the streets with his 35mm film camera. Needless to say, he never looked back, and has since gone on to capture some of the most important photographs of the 1960s.
Coming at a point where colour photography was broadly dismissed as a serious art form by the establishment, the American image-maker’s work pioneered its path from the peripheries of photography, into the mainstream. And, if you’re worried about the path your own career is currently taking, consider that it took Meyerowitz just six years after quitting the his day job to receive his first solo exhibition at New York’s MoMA. It’s that six year period that will form a key part of this latest exhibition, opening today at London’s Beetles + Huxley gallery, Joel Meyerowitz: Towards Colour 1962-1978, documenting his transition from shooting in black and white to the images we know today – from the sun-soaked blues of Florida to the rapidly changing streets of New York City.
As well as the exploration of an American landscape best associated with Meyerowitz’s work, the exhibition will also feature work taken during Meyerowitz’s travels across Europe, including photographs of France, Spain and Greece, the latter taken from the back of a scooter. At the centre of all these works is colour and light, Meyerowitz was called a “magician using colour” earlier this year when he was inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame. Leica, the camera he famously used, will be presented in association with the camera maker. Ten highly recommends.
“Joel Meyerowitz: Towards Colour 1962-1978” will be on at Beetles + Huxley from May 23rd to June 24th
Photographs courtesy of the gallery.
