Florida, 1978

Joel Meyerowitz was born in New York City and began taking photographs in 1962. Although he has always seen himself as a street photographer in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank he transformed the mode with his pioneering use of color. As an early advocate of color photography (mid-60’s), Meyerowitz was instrumental in changing the attitude toward the use of color photography from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance. In Wild Flowers (1983) he demonstrated a comic appreciation for the blending of nature and artifice on ordinary city streets. He later turned his attention to portraits (Redheads, 1991), and landscape (Tuscany: Inside the Light, 2003). More recently, Meyerowitz has spent three years capturing wild areas in New York City's parks. He was the only photographer to be given unimpeded access to Ground Zero in the wake of 9/11. The images he captured have formed the foundation of a major national archive, and an exhibition of selected images has travelled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries.