Joel Meyerowitz is one of the most highly regarded photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. Alongside William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, he drove the repositioning of colour photography from the margins to the mainstream. The recipient of two Guggenheim fellowships, his work has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. 

In the summer of 1976, Meyerowitz travelled to Cape Cod, Massachusetts with a vintage 8 x 10 inch Deardoff view camera. He was in search of something entirely new to photograph, trading the bustling streets of New York City for the expansive coastline and slow-paced towns of New England. Photographing over two summers at the Cape, Meyerowitz produced a body of work, Cape Light, that has become one of the most significant photo-series of the late twentieth century.

Meyerowitz has described Cape Light as the result of a ‘joyous and feverish seeing’.

Used to training in and capturing the fleeting moments and crowded streets of the city, Meyerowitz’s use of the large-format camera required him to step back from his surroundings, encapsulating the long stretches of beach and the tranquil horizon lines where sky and sea meet. Utilising his mastery of colour, Meyerowitz captured the unique light of Cape Cod, creating colourscapes of pinks, purples, blues, greens and yellows. In this work, a gently undulating body of blue stretches across the image, curtailed only by a sliver of warm yellow sand and the light sky of a bright summer’s day. The work evokes a visceral response as Meyerowitz transports us onto the beach, immersing us in the balmy atmosphere. Meyerowitz has described Cape Light as the result of a ‘joyous and feverish seeing’. A state of rapture in the landscape emerges, wrought from a sensitivity to the sensorial experience of place. 

This print is a rare vintage print in perfect condition.