b. 1938
American photographer Joel Meyerowitz was born in the Bronx, New York. He studied painting, art history and medical illustration at Ohio State University, graduating in 1959. His discovery of Robert Frank’s photography in 1962 marked the beginning of his dedication to the medium.
Following the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, Meyerowitz was pioneering in the medium, shifting away from natural landscapes and becoming known for his powerful ranges of colour.
Meyerowitz was honored with Guggenheim Fellowships and laureled by both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has exhibited his work in over 350 museums and galleries globally. His unrestricted access to Ground Zero following 9/11 earned him the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2002 Venice Architecture Biennale.
His works are housed in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris; The Art Institute of Chicago; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and Tate, London among many others.
