"Wham, there it was, this huge, deep, dark poem about America that gave me something to encounter day after day after day. So that fed me," the photographer Joel Meyerowitz said after seeing Robert Frank's book The Americans for the first time.
On November 2nd, Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York will open a two part solo show on Meyerowitz's work. The New York based photographer follows in the urban photography tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank; artists who beautifully capture the mundane and incredible moments on the streets.
Meyerowitz works exclusively in color, a then radical choice he first made in the 1960s, along with other artists exploring the boundaries of the medium. He noted in a 2005 interview with Michaël Houlette that working in color allows the "overall-ness" and "experience" of a photograph to emerge:
Because of using color my efforts on the street moved away from the 'caught' moment toward a more dispersed observation, toward a non-hierarchical image in which everything played an equal role; the people on the street, the architecture, the quality of the day, the angle of the light, the weight of the shadows, the simultaneity of minor events.
Part I and Part II will feature images that span from the 1960s to 2011. Fans can also look out for the upcoming publication of "Joel Meyerowitz: Taking My Time" (Phaidon, November 1, 2012).
Meyerowitz's other work includes his first book, "Cape Light" which earned him a tremendous amount of critical attention for color photos. In addition, he's received praise for his compelling book, World Trade Center Archive. As the only photographer granted access to Ground Zero, Meyerowitz's images are a testament to the struggles in the city in the wake of September 11, 2001.
Take a look through the slideshow to see more photographs and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Joel Meyerowitz at Howard Greenberg Gallery
Joel Meyerowitz Part I runs from November 2 - December 1, 2012 at Howard Greenberg Gallery.
Joel Meyerowitz Part II runs from December 7, 2012 - January 5, 2013 at Howard Greenberg Gallery. Find more information here.