Meryl Meisler & Vintage Street Photography
Meryl Meisler has been making photographs since the age of seven. Her parents, Sunny and Jack, gave her an “Adventurer” (made by the Herbert George Company) as her first camera. The Adventurer is a 620 film camera (similar film to 120) and has a fixed focus lens and instantaneous shutter. The camera is comparable to the Brownie Scout from Kodak. By all measures not a serious camera, but it was enough to hook Meisler into a lifetime of making photographs. Meisler recalls, “I photographed my family, friends, neighbors, school, and trips. The same subjects still intrigue and inform me today.”
Meisler photographed the streets, back yards, and even living rooms of her community in the 70s and 80s, although much of her work is not actually candid. Even the street photographs, Meisler explains, were somewhat based on consent. “Most of my street photographs are not candid. Then and now, I usually ask the subjects verbally or with non-verbal cues if I may take their photograph. People usually gave their permission. If not, it was no big deal. I would often tell the person what about them sparked my interest in taking their photo.” I think this is an important part of Meisler’s story as a lot of her images have an intimacy that many of us long to achieve in our street photography. Truth be told, that intimacy is often achieved by making some kind of contact with the subject. Vivian Maier worked in a related way and achieved similar results.
Adding to the idea that good photography is not a product of anything too technically complicated, Meisler explains that her gear was always rather straightforward. She recalls, “In the 1970s, I used a Norita Graflex- 120 SLR medium format, Vivitar 283 or 285 flash, and TriX 400 film. If the Norita was in repair, I used a Minolta SRT101 loaded with color slide film (preferably Kodachrome 64). When I started teaching in Bushwick in the 1980s, it felt risky to carry an expensive camera. So, I bought an early point and shoot pocket camera (I think it was a Canon Sure Shot) and used color slide 35mm film.” As I have said many times, subject matter, subject matter, subject matter. Don’t worry about trying to buy a Leica or some other “cool” gear, worry about what is in front of your lens. Meisler’s life and work affirms this mantra.
Copyright ⓒ Meryl Meisler
Copyright ⓒ Meryl Meisler
Copyright ⓒ Meryl Meisler
Copyright ⓒ Meryl Meisler
Copyright ⓒ Meryl Meisler
One thing I notice about Meisler’s work is that it is all vintage. We don’t see too much contemporary stuff. I asked her about this and recalled one of Susan Sontag’s favorite refrains that given enough time all photographs, eventually, become interesting. Meisler agreed to a point. “I agree that time makes photographs more interesting. We are intrigued by looking at family albums, street and documentary photos, even advertisements of decades past. Time gives a perspective to what has changed and to what is, in its essence, the same today. However, like aged wine, time alone does not make a photograph great. Some wine turns to vinegar. Many photographs do not stand the test of time.” I agree.
Meisler got particularly interested in photography, in a more serious way, after seeing the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue while at college. But there was no one single photographer that really pushed her toward inspiration. Rather, there were a lot of people who informed her vision in a wide variety of ways. She recalls, “Walker Evans encouraged me to capture subway riders. Margaret Bourke White made me more aware of juxtapositions. Brassaï’s Paris by Night photography inspired me to capture the nightlife I was living when I moved to NYC. Roman Vishniac and August Sanders heightened my awareness of the fragility of life and liberty. Lisette Model’s snapshot aesthetic, and encouragement when I studied with her, kept me photographing from the heart. Helen Levitt whispered in my ear as I documented children playing on the street.”
Finding one’s self in street photography is no easy feat. Competition is stiff. The visual field is saturated. And, everything has been seen and photographed. Meisler remains positive though, and offers up this advice to the young, emerging street photographer, “Have patience with yourself. There is no right or wrong. Follow your instincts and your style will emerge; it took me decades to understand and edit my work.”
Meryl Meisler has definitely emerged as a tour de force in contemporary street photography. She persisted and remained true to her vision for decades and now that is paying off. In 2021, she will give a solo exhibit at Fotogalerie Friedrichshain in Berlin, as well as release a fourth monograph with the good people over at EyeShot. Like many from her generation still at work today, Meisler is proof enough that shooting and shooting and shooting will, one day, pay off. Like fine wine, time may not be the only ingredient but it is surely an ingredient.
Meryl Meisler is represented by the ClampArt Gallery and more about her and her photography can be found at her website or on her Instagram
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