Meyerowitz, Joel

American, b. 1938

BiographyJoel Meyerowitz made his mark in the documentary tradition with his early use of color in street photography, beginning in 1963. With an astute eye for the social landscape, Meyerowitz has photographed mundane events across America. Porch Lighting, Provincetown is from the body of work for which Meyerowitz is most recognized: graceful studies of the weather, water, and light of Cape Cod, where he has photographed for years. By exploring the point at which the sky meets the sea, and investigating the many facets of the horizon, Meyerowitz unveils his subject. This image also demonstrates his technical virtuosity, using an 8x10 view camera to capture such elusive atmospheric events as lighting.

Born in New York in 1938, Joel Meyerowitz studied painting and medical illustration from 1956 to 1959 at Ohio State University, Columbus, where he received his BFA. Working in advertising and design in New York, Meyerowitz became a photographer after completing an advertising assignment with Robert Frank. Meyerowitz began in the 1970s to create color landscapes that reveal the intricacies of changing light. His work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the International Center of Photography, New York; the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Shortly after September 11, 2001, Meyerowitz began the archive project Ground Zero, exhibited by and housed at the Museum of the City of New York.