Joel Meyerowitz Receives Sony Photography Award, Praises Smartphones but Rejects AI

Legendary street photographer Joel Meyerowitz received the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award at the Sony World Photography Awards. The 88-year-old artist expressed enthusiasm for smartphone photography, noting it gives billions daily the means of expression and builds a culture of imagery teaching values about photography and humanity. Meyerowitz's career began in the early 1960s when watching Robert Frank work with a Leica inspired him to quit his advertising job immediately. He became an early advocate for color photography when most worked in black and white, helping establish it as fine art. While embracing camera phones, Meyerowitz draws the line at artificial intelligence, calling it 'lensless photography' and stating he has chosen not to use it. His recent honors include winning Leica Picture of the Year for a 1963 photograph of four Puerto Rican girls in New York City. Meyerowitz is also known for extensively documenting the September 11, 2001 attacks at Ground Zero. He described street photography as capturing the energy of life, people's interactions, and instantaneous events.