PHO150 Digital Photography: Joel Meyerowitz

Traces a key turning point in the history of photography: the young Joel Meyerowitz's early experiments in color photography. An early advocate of color photography, Joel Meyerowitz has impacted and influenced generations of artists. For fifty-eight years, the master photographer has documented the US's ever-changing social landscape. In this book, Meyerowitz tells the story of his early days as a photographer when he was told that serious photographers took black & white pictures. 'But why?' he asked, 'when the world is in color?' He proceeded to buy a color camera and various rolls of films and to read manuals and experiment with color techniques: a passion he continued to pursue all his life...

The 'Masters of Photography' series is a new approach to photography how-to. Each volume is dedicated to the work of one key photographer who, through a series of bite-sized lessons and ideas, tells you everything you always wanted to know about their approach to taking photographs. The series begins with Joel Meyerowitz, who will teach you, among other essentials: how to use a camera to reclaim the streets as your own, why you need to watch the world always with a sense of possibility, how to set your subjects at ease, and the importance of being playful and of finding a lens that suits your personality.

After the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York on September 11th 2001, the world-renowned photographer Joel Meyerowitz felt compelled to visit the site, to document and record the aftermath of the largest ever attack on US soil. Although initially turned away by police (on the grounds that the site was a crime scene and could not be photographed), Meyerowitz was determined to gain access to the area. Within days he had established strong links with many of the firefighters, policemen and construction workers contributing to the clean up. With their assistance he became the only photographer to be granted unimpeded access to Ground Zero. Soon after the Museum of the City of New York officially engaged Meyerowitz to create an archive of the destruction and recovery at Ground Zero and the immediate neighborhood.

In this book, the authors explore and discuss the development of one of the most interesting and dynamic of photographic genres. Hailed as a landmark work when it was first published in 1994, Bystander is widely regarded by street photographers as the "bible" of street photography.

Walker Evans & Company focuses on Evans as a central figure in the arts of the 1920s and 30s, and includes works in photography and other mediums that influenced Evans or were influenced by him, or which resonate in a significant way with aspects of his imagery, sensibility and style. Among the other artists whose work is featured are: Eugene Atget, Mathew Brady, Stuart Davis, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Edward Hopper, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha, August Sander, Andy Warhol and Edward Weston.

Novices and experts alike will gain a deeper understanding of great photographers and their work, as Jeffrey decodes key images and provides essential biographical and historical background. Profiles of more than 100 major photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Paul Strand, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, highlight particular examples of styles and movements throughout the history of the medium. Each entry includes a concise biography along with an illuminating discussion of key works and nuggets of contextual information.

Featuring 250 photographs by over 150 different artists, this book surveys fine art photography in American throughout the 20th century.