Joel Meyerowitz

The legendary street photograher has been using Leica cameras since the 1960s. Niall Hampton asks him how they shaped his work

- Joel Meyerowitz

Born in New York in 1938, Joel Meyerowitz is regarded as one of the pioneers of colour photography. He adopted the medium after working as an art editor in advertising.

In a career spanning six decades, Meyerowitz has published more than 50 books and his work has appeared in 350 exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world.

Well known for his distinctive style of street photography, Meyerowitz likes to capture playful images of his subjects going about their day to day lives.

The recipient of many awards for arts and humanities, Meyerowitz is a two-time Guggenheim fellow and received The Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal.

www.joelmeyerowitz.com

As someone who has shot with a wide range of Leica cameras, what do you get from a Leica that you weren't able to get from other brands?

The mechanics of the camera, in terms of how you see the world, are extremely important. On the back of my Leica M11, the eyepiece is on the left-hand side, so when you're shooting, you can see the world coming at you and can anticipate that someone is going to walk into the frame. You learn how to move because you have two worlds; the world of the frame and the world of reality. At the same time, a Leica camera is quiet and the way it cocked was so fast that it felt like it fitted in the hand in a way that was exquisitely designed.