JOEL MEYEROWITZ
BETWEEN THE DOG AND THE WOLF
Meyerowitz's 'Between The Dog and The Wolf' is full of opposites and contrasts even in just the title alone. The French's name for the 'blue hour' is the title of this book. Some examples of the duality seen in this book are the known and the unknown, the tame and the wild or just the colour contrasts. The book is full of images all shot on the same large format camera, and causally linked by their unique exploration of colour and evening summer light. I chose this particular work of Meyerowitz's as I look to photograph within the same weather conditions as he does. I think this period of time between the sunset and the dark to yield interesting colour and lighting effects that I would like to explore. There is a lot of focus on the colour blue in this work which links to the external exam stimuli I chose.
This photo shows how much space he gives the sky in this work. It is a single shade of melancholic blue which reflects off the sea beneath it. The thin waves create a darker blue colour closer to the shore. We can tell this is large format, not just due to the size of the image, but also from the detail we can see in the water as well as the patchy ground and the detail of the light reflecting off the flaking paint of the building on the right. So much detail and texture is visible in each surface. The single light on its own signifies isolation as well as acting as acting as a spotlight for the ground closer to the camera. There are no figures visible in the frame which tells us we are on our own on the beach. This is further shown through the lights in the building to the left being turned off. The chained off entrance gives the viewer the feeling that they are somewhere they aren't supposed to be. These effects come together to create a surreal melancholic feeling achieved through subject matter, lighting and attention to colour details.
This vast landscape benefits aesthetically from the evening summer lighting as it washes the grass and houses in a pink/blue hue. This gives the landscape an enchanted feeling. Again, Meyerowitz gives the sky a lot of space in the frame as it is the main focus since the book is about the blue hour. The subtle pink highlights in the clouds contrast the darker blues seen in the top of the image. This creates an unspoken duality between joy and sadness just through simple colour detail. The repetition of houses create a pattern which is pleasing the eye, also, almost all of the lights in every house are off which shows people are either absent or making the most out of the light. Meyerowitz likely uses a very wide lens here to capture this full image as the houses do sprawl very far in the photo. The tiny size of the houses compared to the sky in this image draws more emphasis to the nature of the blue hour rather than a human perspective on it as the houses almost seem insignificant beneath the towering sky.
This image has a deeply nostalgic feeling to it as we see the pink light wash over the green landscape. Summer lighting has a very positive connotation to it as it is considered the happiest season. Summer evenings connote simpler times. The perspective of this photograph appears to be a parent watching their child's baseball game. The foreground features a child leaning back on their light yellow hoodie to watch the game which connotes a childlike innocence. The large format camera quality shows us the texture of the sane as well as the texture of the grass which is aesthetically pleasing. The pink clouds appear to surround the background of the image which outline the lines of the hills and trees at the edge of the photo. The player's uniforms pop out as the yellows and reds stand out in the vibrant green of the field. This photo is most effecting because of the perspective, since its at eyeline level, the viewer can place themselves in the photo and feel like they're in the image.
This image of Meyerowitz's reminds me a lot of an Edward Hopper painting with its colourful simplicity. The moonlight beams towards the camera creating an interesting circle light effect in the sky which looks like it could have been painted if only the detail in the photo wasn't so high. There is rarely use of depth of field in this work but it is utilised here to draw the viewers eye inwards towards the lookout where the chair is. The fences and pillars act as leading lines also leading the eye towards the chair. There is a ghostly green light effecting the pillars and walls which shows great colour detail. The texture of the wood leading up the chair is visible as we see each imperfection and shine on the varnished wood platform. There is a single light at the end of the walkway just before the chair which adds a dramatic effect. The chair is the most ambiguous part of the image as the image implies there is some sort of force telling the viewer to go and sit in the chair. Again this photo is at eyeline level so it puts the viewer there in the photo.
This image informs a very distinct time period just from the make of car and design of the houses surrounding it. The subtle pink in the flowers next to the car match the subtle pink in the sky. The marks on the ground leading up to the car signify the passage of time which is an interesting concept. The light of the sky is reflected in the windows of the houses as well as the metal of the car. There is a return of the yellow vs red contrast from the baseball shot which could be intentional or accidental. The difference in colour reduces repetition and makes the homes more personal and interesting. In the right house, we can see an old lamp dimly lighting the room it sits in, likely to be switched off soon after as the night approaches. The idea of a slight representation of life in a seemingly empty frame is very interesting to me and is something I am looking to explore.
Joel Meyerowitz is the most influential figure for my external exam work as he adopts similar philosophies that I want to use as well as having a very similar visual aesthetic that I want to replicate.
