5th Ave: A Special Hunting Ground for Street Photographers

Part of a conversation between Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz (*, *) about the latter's memories of his own early days as a street photographer in New York in the 1960s and his association with Robert Frank (*), Garry Winogrand (*), Diane Arbus (*), Lee Friedlander (*), and others.

Colin Westerbeck: Did Fifth always seem such a special hunting ground for you street photographers?
 
Joel Meyerowitz: Oh yeah. Because Fifth Avenue was the most exciting, and it had the most light.

I think Madison was too dark, Park was too wide, Third still had the El in the early sixties, or they were beginning to tear it down anyway, Third was creepy. Sixth Avenue didn't have much on it.
 
We certainly made some circuits around there, but really Fifth Avenue had the pulse of lie, the most vigor, the most beautiful women, the heaviest business action. The mix was best on Fifth.
 
I  mean, you got it all, from high fashion to messengers.
 
It just was everything. pushcarts, pretzel vendors, and limousines.
 
It had the contradictions of life in a big city, and that kind of counterpoint was the stuff of commentary.
 
That's what you could mock, that's what you could wait for, because it was more exciting to see those combinations there.

An extract from Still Going from Bystander: A History of Street Photography (*) by Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz.
 
I really like the Lunch Series (*) by Gus Powell (*) and In Color (*) by Richard Bram (*).

I can definitely relate to what is said here. Would have influenced me a lot if I had read this before I went to New York recently. Meyerowitz's photos all just have that something extra when you look at them closely. Inspiring work for sure,

Red and Yellow (1 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)
Red and Yellow (2 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)
My Mom Totally Rocks - Green - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)
Intersection - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)