Joel Meyerowitz: Conversations | Howard Greenberg Gallery
Joel Meyerowitz, Florida, 1968 Archival pigment print; printed 2024
Written by Trip Avis
Joel Meyerowitz’s prolific work is as fluid, elusive, and multifaceted as the human beings it depicts. Some images are tinged with nostalgia, aching reminders of the impermanence of our changing world. Others pulse with a wry, sensual, even cheeky self-awareness. They all share something in common—an undeniable joie de vivre. At eighty-four years old, with a career that accounts for sixty-two of them, Meyerowitz reveals to viewers a man clearly in love—in awe of—with the world around him. His enduring legacy is largely attributable to his exploration of the human experience. It makes his striking color images instantly relatable: amid the ups and downs, this is a ride we are all on whether we like it or not. In his subjects, we see fragments of ourselves, recall memories we thought forgotten, and ponder lingering questions about life. In Conversations, Meyerowitz’s photographs inspire these inner discourses and self-reflection that make us feel most human and aware.
Joel Meyerowitz, Florida, 1967 Archival pigment print; printed 2024
Photography is imbued with traversing magic: its striking immediacy bridges the past and present. With Florida, 1967, Meyerowitz firmly plants the viewer amid a sultry Florida afternoon; you can feel the slow, enveloping heat between instances of mitigating breeze, rustling the flags and sails of the nearby marina, the boats creaking slightly in their slips. In the left foreground, we see a man’s arm draped over the passenger seat of his car. His shirt stripes echo the ridges of the seat’s upholstery. There is an element of sprezzatura to his pose as if he is trying to look nonchalant to benefit two women bystanders. The women, however, do not give this driver the time of day. One wears her hair in a bouffant, glasses perched in it like a roosting bird; the one behind her rocks goggle-esque teal shades, her shirt opened to reveal a floral bikini that strikingly contrasts her caramel-colored skin. The laid-back chic that radiates from the image abates the sweltering Floridian heat.
Joel Meyerowitz, Red Interior, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1977 Archival pigment print; printed 2024
Photographed a decade later, Meyerowitz’s Red Interior, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1977, shares similar aesthetic elements to Florida, 1967—beachside mise-en-scene and sleek, vintage automobiles—but the energy and atmosphere of the image is nearly opposite. While the former featured a summery sepia-tinge, Red Interior oozes with a dusky coolness. Devoid of human subjects, the cars are almost anthropomorphic; alone, they lurk like crepuscular animals seeking their nightly feast. Color plays an important role: against the opalescent periwinkle sky, a ghostly sea-foam light emits from a nearby street lamp. Next to the artificial green sunburst, the moon seems small and inconsequential. The lamp paints the walls of the white cedar-shake beach cottages. A red light pours from the open doors of the nearest vehicle, lending the image its title. It is the singular element of warmth; the open doors invite you in from the evening chill.
Joel Meyerowitz, “Camel Coats,” New York City, 1975 Archival pigment print; printed 2024
For over sixty years, Meyerowitz has engaged fully with the world around him, using his camera as a medium to raise conversation. Whether photographing people, light and texture, nature, or man-made artifice, he has an almost religious reverence for the many instances of beauty waiting to be captured if you are only willing to look. His appreciation inspires us, as viewers, to do the same.
Joel Meyerowitz, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1977 Archival pigment print; printed 2024
