
Joel Meyerowitz American, b. 6/3/1938
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Edition of 20 - Sold Out
30 × 40 in / 76 × 101 cm
Edition of 10 - Sold Out
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48 × 60 in / 121 × 152 cm
Edition of 5 - Sold Out
60 x 75 in / 152.4 x 190.5 cm
Edition of 3
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Joel Meyerowitz revolutionized color photography when black-and-white dominated fine art. Inspired by Robert Frank in 1962, he quit advertising to become a street photographer, pioneering color by carrying two Leicas—one color, one black-and-white—to compare expressive power.
By 1976, Meyerowitz transitioned from handheld 35mm to large-format 8x10 Deardorff cameras, shifting from spontaneous street photography to meditative composition. "Dairy Land, Provincetown, Massachusetts"captures this evolution—an American roadside scene with vintage cars under Cape Cod's distinctive light.
This photograph belongs to Meyerowitz's celebrated Cape Light series, begun summer 1976. The image captures what the French call *entre chien et loup*—that magical twilight between day and night when ordinary scenes transform into something transcendent. Meyerowitz's patient observation of this liminal light created "crystalline moments" that proved color's emotional power beyond documentation.
The 1978 Cape Light book sold over 100,000 copies, establishing color photography's fine art legitimacy and influencing generations.
"Dairy Land" represents the pivotal moment when Meyerowitz demonstrated color could convey profound emotional and temporal meaning. His mastery of *entre chien et loup* fundamentally changed photography's artistic landscape, transforming how we perceive light, color, and American vernacular scenes. The work remains a cornerstone of 1970s color photography and Meyerowitz's distinguished career.