When you're on the street, and, as you're walking along, a woman turns the corner going away from you, and for an instant you have a glimpse of the side of her face, of the gesture of her shoulder, the shape of her body, and you are committed... You are in love for an instant, or your senses are rocked for an instant. That person then disappears and is lost to you forever.
Joel MeyerowitzI have to say, taking photographs is such an instantaneous act. The recognition and the acting on the recognition, depending on your equipment, is close to instantaneous.
Joel MeyerowitzIt comes down to risk, again and again. If you risk coming out, if you risk making pictures that arenโt good, you might discover something in a photograph that is the key. The very doorway to your own interest.
Joel MeyerowitzAttempts by some teachers to adjust school curricula to incorporate programs that children watch on television suggest a new means of 'leading' children by running after them as quickly as possible.
Joel MeyerowitzI want to enjoy the languor of just living, recognizing, acknowledging, taking it in, sort of amplifying it in some way. [Photography] is a great medium for that. It happens in an instant, but it gives you hours or days of time to reflect on things. Itโs a beautiful system, this game of photography, to see in an instant and go back and think about later on. Itโs pure philosophy. And poetry.
Joel Meyerowitz