Early experiments with colour from this masterful photographer sheds light on how Joel Meyerowitz works, says Amy Davies
£20, Thames & Hudson, softcover, 224 pages, ISBN: 9780500297896
It wasn’t so long ago that colour photography was seen as trashy, the preserve of holiday makers and home-snappers.
Black & white meanwhile was seen as the appropriate choice for artists, serious photographers, reporters and more. Of course, things have changed quite a bit – though perhaps less so in the art world – but it’s still a debate that draws plenty of attention today.
One early advocate of colour photography was the noted street and documentary photographer, Joel Meyerowitz, who has been pointing his lens at the changing shape of American society for nearly 60 years.
In the US, switching to colour at a time when the gallerists held black & white in such high esteem was a risky proposition. This book explores the early days of Joel doing exactly that (1962- 1966), who found himself asking, ‘But why… when the world is in colour?’ He had (and has) a fair point. The argument for presenting work in colour
