Joel Meyerowitz

In 1966, at the age of 28 and shortly after leaving his advertising job in New York to pursue photography, Meyerowitz embarked on a year-long road trip around Europe. He drove 20,000 miles through 10 countries and took 25,000 photographs. During this period, Meyerowitz settled in Málaga for six months, where he befriended the Escalona family, one of the traditional flamenco families in the city. While in Málaga, Meyerowitz took 8,500 photographs and captured hours of high-quality sound recordings of live flamenco.

This unique experience, which resulted in an extraordinary photographic record of Spain during the height of the Francoist dictatorship, was hugely influential for Meyerowitz and had a long-lasting impact on his signature style of photography. Meyerowitz is now recognised as one of the leading photographers of his generation who redefined how reality can be captured and communicated with a camera. After returning to New York, Meyerowitz had his first ever solo exhibition at MoMA in 1968, featuring 40 photographs taken from the window of his moving car while in Europe.

Featuring vintage and large-format prints in colour and black and white, the exhibition will present an in-depth account of Meyerowitz’s travels through England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Greece and Italy, centring on the significance of his extended stay in Málaga.

Tracing Meyerowitz’s artistic evolution during his time in Europe, the exhibition will feature portraits of local people, unique moments captured in everyday street scenes, urban and natural landscapes, and photographs taken from inside his moving car. The exhibition will also feature a selection of original prints from his first solo exhibition at MoMA in 1968.