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Photographing the photographer: how The New York Times caught Joel Meyerowitz in his element

Photographing the photographer: how The New York Times caught Joel Meyerowitz in his element

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Meyerowitz NYT
Meyerowitz NYT

The New York Times recently dispatched staff photographer Fred R. Conrad — someone who's proven more than competent with a camera lens —to capture a portrait of Joel Meyerowitz. Best known for his unwavering advocacy of color photography, Meyerowitz made his start on the streets of New York armed with a 35mm camera. In the half-century since, his body of work has exhibited a mastery of street, portrait, and landscape photography. He's assembled a résumé so impressive, in fact, that Conrad found the task of snapping the "perfect" shot of Meyerowitz to be a bit daunting. Thankfully videographer Elaisha Stokes was on hand to document the entire process. The resulting clip lends us unique insight into what happens when an icon of the art form, grown used to living behind the camera, instead becomes the subject.