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Joel Meyerowitz: Seeing Things: A Kid's Guide to Looking at Photographs
Aimed at children between the ages of eight and twelve, Seeing Things is a wonderful introduction to photography that asks how photographers transform ordinary things into meaningful moments. In this book, acclaimed and beloved photographer Joel Meyerowitz takes readers on a journey through the power and magic of photography: its abilities to freeze time, tell a story, combine several layers into one frame and record life's fleeting and beautiful moments. The book features the work of masters such as William Eggleston, Mary Ellen Mark, Helen Levitt and Walker Evans, among many others. Each picture is accompanied by a short commentary, encouraging readers to look closely and use their imagination to understand key ideas in photography such as light, gesture, composition--and, ultimately, how there is wonder all around us when viewed through the lens.
Joel Meyerowitz (born 1938) is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. He is a two-time Guggenheim Fellow, a recipient of both National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities awards and a recipient of the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis. He has published over 15 books and divides his time between New York and Italy.
Joel Meyerowitz (born 1938) is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. He is a two-time Guggenheim Fellow, a recipient of both National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities awards and a recipient of the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis. He has published over 15 books and divides his time between New York and Italy.
67 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
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387 people want to read
About the author
Joel Meyerowitz
66 books42 followersJoel Meyerowitz is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. He was born in New York in 1938 and began photographing in 1962. Meyerowitz is a “street photographer” in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, although he works exclusively in color. As an early advocate of color photography (early-60’s) he was instrumental in changing the attitude toward color photography from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance. His first book “Cape Light” is considered a classic work of color photography and has sold over 100,000 copies during its 26-year life. He has published nineteen other books including “Bystander: The History of Street Photography” and “Provence: Lasting Impressions.”
In 1998 Meyerowitz produced and directed his first film, ”POP”, an intimate diary of a three-week road trip he made with his son Sasha and his father, Hy. This odyssey has as its central character an unpredictable, street wise and witty 87-year-old with Alzheimer’s. It is both an open-eyed look at aging and a meditation on the significance of memory.
Within a few days of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Meyerowitz began to create an archive of the destruction and recovery at Ground Zero. He was the only photographer who was granted unimpeded access to the site. Meyerowitz took a meditative stance toward the work and workers there, systematically documenting the painful work of rescue, recovery, demolition and excavation. The World Trade Center Archive includes more than 8,000 images and will be available for research, exhibition, and publication at museums in New York and Washington, DC.
In 2001 The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department asked the Museum of the City of New York and Meyerowitz to create a special exhibition of images from the archive to send around the world. The images traveled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries and over three and a half million people viewed the exhibition.
In addition to the traveling shows, Meyerowitz was invited to represent the United States at the 8th Venice Biennale for Architecture with his photographs from the World Trade Center Archives. In September 2002, he exhibited 73 images – some as large as 22 feet – in lower Manhattan. Some recent books are: “Taking My Time”, his fifty year, two volume, retrospective book by Phaidon Press of London, “Provence: lasting Impressions,” co-authored with his wife Maggie Barrett, a book on the late work of Paul Strand by Aperture, "Glimpse": Photographs From Moving Car, which was a solo show at MoMA, and "Joel Meyerowitz Retrospective", published in conjunction with his recent show at NRW Forum in Dusseldorf.
Meyerowitz is a Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of both the NEA and NEH awards. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and many others.
In 1998 Meyerowitz produced and directed his first film, ”POP”, an intimate diary of a three-week road trip he made with his son Sasha and his father, Hy. This odyssey has as its central character an unpredictable, street wise and witty 87-year-old with Alzheimer’s. It is both an open-eyed look at aging and a meditation on the significance of memory.
Within a few days of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Meyerowitz began to create an archive of the destruction and recovery at Ground Zero. He was the only photographer who was granted unimpeded access to the site. Meyerowitz took a meditative stance toward the work and workers there, systematically documenting the painful work of rescue, recovery, demolition and excavation. The World Trade Center Archive includes more than 8,000 images and will be available for research, exhibition, and publication at museums in New York and Washington, DC.
In 2001 The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department asked the Museum of the City of New York and Meyerowitz to create a special exhibition of images from the archive to send around the world. The images traveled to more than 200 cities in 60 countries and over three and a half million people viewed the exhibition.
In addition to the traveling shows, Meyerowitz was invited to represent the United States at the 8th Venice Biennale for Architecture with his photographs from the World Trade Center Archives. In September 2002, he exhibited 73 images – some as large as 22 feet – in lower Manhattan. Some recent books are: “Taking My Time”, his fifty year, two volume, retrospective book by Phaidon Press of London, “Provence: lasting Impressions,” co-authored with his wife Maggie Barrett, a book on the late work of Paul Strand by Aperture, "Glimpse": Photographs From Moving Car, which was a solo show at MoMA, and "Joel Meyerowitz Retrospective", published in conjunction with his recent show at NRW Forum in Dusseldorf.
Meyerowitz is a Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of both the NEA and NEH awards. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and many others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 2, 2018
In comparision to the collection from Henry Carrol, this book has more feeling attached to it. The photos are not discussed from the technical point of view, instead Mr Meyerowitz puts more accent on the impact they have on the viewer.
Nice collection.
Nice collection.
May 1, 2017
Not particularly kid-friendly. The choices aren't especially classic - they seem to be more personal to the author (friends and colleagues). The book design is frustrating - there is too much text, most of it in a tiny font. Here and there each page is disrupted with a portion in a large font. It looks like a "pull-quote" or a sidebar, but it's not. It's all part of the same single narrative.
While there are some helpful insights about the images and about the art of photography in general, there are also banal "deep" statements like, "This photograph is a poem." I don't find it especially useful for teaching.
The elaborate cover where an eye is built up out of four cutout pages seems to me to be a pointless excess.
While there are some helpful insights about the images and about the art of photography in general, there are also banal "deep" statements like, "This photograph is a poem." I don't find it especially useful for teaching.
The elaborate cover where an eye is built up out of four cutout pages seems to me to be a pointless excess.
March 26, 2025
È un libro per ragazzi?
No, quando chi lo realizza è Joel Meyerowitz.
Dovrebbero studiarlo molti, moltissimi, fotografi adulti.
Chi se ne importa della diagonale e della regola dei terzi se non sai guardare.
GUARDARE.
Ecco, Meyerowitz insegna a guardare.
Citando, a mo’ d’esempio: Avedon, Winogrand, Erwitt, Cartier Bresson, Strand, Friedländer, la Versailles di Ghirri (lo amo, è noto), Eggleston, Salgado, Evans, Parr. Mary Hellen Mark.
Ai ragazzi.
Mi chiedo quanti adulti ne conoscano le opere.
Diaframma e tempi? Forse, dopo.
E invece la luce, la composizione, il racconto.
Cose da nulla.
Bellissimo.
No, quando chi lo realizza è Joel Meyerowitz.
Dovrebbero studiarlo molti, moltissimi, fotografi adulti.
Chi se ne importa della diagonale e della regola dei terzi se non sai guardare.
GUARDARE.
Ecco, Meyerowitz insegna a guardare.
Citando, a mo’ d’esempio: Avedon, Winogrand, Erwitt, Cartier Bresson, Strand, Friedländer, la Versailles di Ghirri (lo amo, è noto), Eggleston, Salgado, Evans, Parr. Mary Hellen Mark.
Ai ragazzi.
Mi chiedo quanti adulti ne conoscano le opere.
Diaframma e tempi? Forse, dopo.
E invece la luce, la composizione, il racconto.
Cose da nulla.
Bellissimo.
August 20, 2020
Excellent, diverse collection of full page photographs by some of the greats, including Cartier-Bresson, Winogrand, Eggleston, and the author. The commentary on each is super-incisive insight into how an artist works and sees the world that is comprehensible to kids (I read it to my 10 yo) without over-simplifying or being condescending.
February 11, 2018
A Kid's Guide to Looking at Photographs--or is it? As an adult who appreciated pretty and/ or striking photography, but doesn't know much about how to analyze it or appreciate its technical features, I found this book a helpful, easy to read primer on some considerations for analyzing photography--and creating it. I'm not actually sure I absorbed enough for it to affect my own photography and/ or improve my technique, but hopefully it did, at least a little. I would say this is an decent book to share with a child (or possibly even teen) interested in learning more about photography theory and technique. It's full of large, eye-catching photography and relatively easy to read analysis of each of the photography. Even the cover is art constructed of a clever series of cutouts that comment on perspective. A rewarding way to spend a half hour.
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January 17, 2021Una edición preciosa. Un libro directo. Crítica fotográfica sutil, poética, certera. Un repaso ligero a la teoría de la imagen y a la historia de la fotografía sintetizada en 66 fotografías y sus respectivos y brillantes pies de foto.
May 17, 2025
La sabiduría de Joel Meyerowitz siempre es nutrición pura para los que estamos aprendiendo a mirar y fotografiar. En este libro, aparentemente dirige sus lecciones a los fotógrafos menores de edad, pero igual todo lo que dice sirve para un aprendiz adulto.
Meyerowitz cita fotografías de consagrados colegas suyos y que admira mucho, A partir de los ejemplos hace sus análisis y extrae las enseñanzas acerca del oficio y la manera de trabajar con la cámara. En cada caso siempre hay algo que se puede copiar: la actitud del fotógrafo, la experimentación, la necesidad de observar, de detenerse ante una escena, de saber esperar, de anticiparse ante lo que pudiera ocurrir, de poner algo de picardía, de ser perspicaz, de jugar con las perspectivas, de observar la luz de los sitios y de utilizar con flexibilidad las reglas de la composición, etcétera. Este libro enseña, tiene buenas impresiones de las fotos y logran buena calidad.
Recomendable para cualquier fotógrafo, principiante o no, infante o adulto.
Meyerowitz cita fotografías de consagrados colegas suyos y que admira mucho, A partir de los ejemplos hace sus análisis y extrae las enseñanzas acerca del oficio y la manera de trabajar con la cámara. En cada caso siempre hay algo que se puede copiar: la actitud del fotógrafo, la experimentación, la necesidad de observar, de detenerse ante una escena, de saber esperar, de anticiparse ante lo que pudiera ocurrir, de poner algo de picardía, de ser perspicaz, de jugar con las perspectivas, de observar la luz de los sitios y de utilizar con flexibilidad las reglas de la composición, etcétera. Este libro enseña, tiene buenas impresiones de las fotos y logran buena calidad.
Recomendable para cualquier fotógrafo, principiante o no, infante o adulto.
March 6, 2022
5.0 Once upon a time, I had a small but dedicated book group and this was one of my last suggested reads before my mental health tanked. Seeing Things, is for everyone who wants to be inspired to see in new ways and be present, truly present, to the moments surrounding you (camera or no). I keep coming back to this book and will continue to do so.
November 14, 2024
Aimed at kids, this book can be read and studied by ANY age! Brilliant, not just for "looking at photographs" but for looking at the world with different eyes! Pick up and read ANYTIME!
August 30, 2018
This was a delightful book. I got a copy as a gift and ended up buying two more--another as a gift and one for myself. It's full of good information on how to analyze photographic compositions and talks about different ways of looking at the world. Good for kids, good for me too.
May 2, 2021
é muito competente e cumpre muito bem o que se propõe. é uma introdução muito rica à fotografia e ajuda a desenvolver a percepção poética do mundo por meio de um repertório rico de fotos. nada de fórmulas prontas, nem “dicas”, mas um chamado à atenção para o mundo.
June 9, 2020
"No son pocos los autores que han escrito ensayos sobre la cultura visual y la forma que tenemos de entender nuestras distintas formas de mirar y ver, si bien no muchos de ellos se han dirigido más exclusivamente al público de los más pequeños. En este libro, Joel Meyerowitz plantea una guía para acercarse a la fotografía sin miedo. Para el fotógrafo estadounidense ver es una forma de despertar, que a través de aquello que nos llama la atención individualmente se expresa el mundo.
Meyerowitz propone que mirar sea un juego en el que adentrarse en el universo único de cada momento y lugar. Con un diseño que resulta tan dinámico como pedagógico, este libro originariamente publicado por Aperture nos enseña que ver fotografías no encierra una sola historia, sino todas las que el observador quiera. Leer imágenes no pretende cerrar la puerta a las diferentes posibilidades que nos ofrece todo lo que podamos ver en ellas, sino multiplicarlas para plantear historias abiertas. Esta introducción a la fotografía representa un mirar placentero que nos alienta a pensar, descifrar y analizar lo que cada imagen fotográfica manifiesta dentro de nuestra subjetividad." Lydia Merinero
Meyerowitz propone que mirar sea un juego en el que adentrarse en el universo único de cada momento y lugar. Con un diseño que resulta tan dinámico como pedagógico, este libro originariamente publicado por Aperture nos enseña que ver fotografías no encierra una sola historia, sino todas las que el observador quiera. Leer imágenes no pretende cerrar la puerta a las diferentes posibilidades que nos ofrece todo lo que podamos ver en ellas, sino multiplicarlas para plantear historias abiertas. Esta introducción a la fotografía representa un mirar placentero que nos alienta a pensar, descifrar y analizar lo que cada imagen fotográfica manifiesta dentro de nuestra subjetividad." Lydia Merinero
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September 28, 2021Abstract: Uses photographs to provide examples on how to interpret and appreciate photographs, offering advice on characteristics such as color, timing, and emotion.
Contents: Seeing the world around you -- Timing is everything -- The past is the present -- Actions and angles -- In the in-between places -- The power of observation -- The frieze -- Hidden texts -- Light and happiness -- Man and beast -- The right moment -- Eye contact -- The blue hour -- Still life -- Seeing the light -- Shadow play -- Making fun -- Everything all at once -- Watching and waiting -- New perspectives -- A dog's life -- Beautiful chaos -- A parallel universe -- The frame within the frame -- Dreamscapes -- Mirror image -- Storybook -- The human condition -- Can you see a story? -- Things aren't always as they seem -- Looking into the future.
Subject: Photography -- Juvenile literature.
Photography, Artistic -- Juvenile literature.
Visual literacy.
Photographic criticism -- Juvenile literature.
Visual literacy -- Juvenile literature.
Photography.
Contents: Seeing the world around you -- Timing is everything -- The past is the present -- Actions and angles -- In the in-between places -- The power of observation -- The frieze -- Hidden texts -- Light and happiness -- Man and beast -- The right moment -- Eye contact -- The blue hour -- Still life -- Seeing the light -- Shadow play -- Making fun -- Everything all at once -- Watching and waiting -- New perspectives -- A dog's life -- Beautiful chaos -- A parallel universe -- The frame within the frame -- Dreamscapes -- Mirror image -- Storybook -- The human condition -- Can you see a story? -- Things aren't always as they seem -- Looking into the future.
Subject: Photography -- Juvenile literature.
Photography, Artistic -- Juvenile literature.
Visual literacy.
Photographic criticism -- Juvenile literature.
Visual literacy -- Juvenile literature.
Photography.
June 8, 2019
An impulse buy that I picked up at The Art of Simple in Seaside, Florida. I am starting to pick up books as mementos of trips— and this one did not disappoint.
Nominally this book is for tweener or adolescent kids. In practice, it is just as useful for adults.
There are about 20 full page photos, each with a corresponding facing page written about the photo. Each description provides a take home message about the piece, and about photography in general.
I hadn’t seen most of the pictures before. They were remarkable. Stunning. I gained several ideas for my own photography and painting from them. Duane Michals’ The Human Condition in particular helped me solve an art problem that I have been grappling with this past week.
Highly recommend this book as a gift to yourself, or to others. The 45 min spent reading & viewing it will be rewarded with many more hours of reflection. It could even inspire your own art.
Nominally this book is for tweener or adolescent kids. In practice, it is just as useful for adults.
There are about 20 full page photos, each with a corresponding facing page written about the photo. Each description provides a take home message about the piece, and about photography in general.
I hadn’t seen most of the pictures before. They were remarkable. Stunning. I gained several ideas for my own photography and painting from them. Duane Michals’ The Human Condition in particular helped me solve an art problem that I have been grappling with this past week.
Highly recommend this book as a gift to yourself, or to others. The 45 min spent reading & viewing it will be rewarded with many more hours of reflection. It could even inspire your own art.
February 16, 2020
Leider sind die Begleittexte relativ belanglos und nicht annähernd so gut, wie die ausgewählten Fotografien. Gerade bei einem Kinderbuch sollte es mehr Anreize als das "Wiederkauen" der Position des Autors geben. "Technische" Aspekte oder Informatives über die Fotografinnen und Fotografen fehlen ebenfalls. Absolut grauenvoll finde ich zudem, wie die Texte gesetzt wurden.
June 15, 2023
Why this is only for a kid, it should be for everyone!!! I love all the pictures selected in this book and the interpretation of those photos has brought so much more to understand them! Well done. Wish to see more photos in the book!
December 24, 2025
Some of the photos and notes were interesting but most of them not really. It's a "guide" only on some of those. I was expecting a book with notes/discussion on why some great photos were great and maybe what were their critical elements but this was done only on a handful of those.
September 5, 2017
If you started with two photographs, a beginning and an end, what story would you tell?
September 21, 2017
Good book for young photographers or those interested in art. Maybe 4th through 8th grades.
October 28, 2017
Tagged these incorrectly. Can't change?
Wonderful lessons on looking at photographs and composition of such.
Wonderful lessons on looking at photographs and composition of such.
February 1, 2020
Lovely introduction to photography
February 29, 2020
Not just a kids book. Adults can learn a lot too!
January 1, 2023
Even though it’s geared toward kids, I think every photographer should take a read through this book. Instead of talking about camera settings and gear, it’s about how to see.
March 10, 2023
A nice intro into photography, photos well-chosen, text is sufficient but not overwhelming.
April 2, 2023
a big hit with mom but not with kiddo so much. aw well.
September 22, 2024
Qué ganas tengo de ser mamá:)
October 21, 2019
Un grande fotografo sceglie una serie di immagini scattate da grandi fotografi per insegnare ai ragazzi a "vedere". Belle foto (e ci mancherebbe), ma i testi, scritti con caratteri alternativamente grandi e piccoli, sembrano rivolgersi a un pubblico non più vecchio di dieci anni. Mi aspettavo un manuale di educazione dello sguardo un po' più strutturato e non una semplice galleria di immagini che non fa che ripetere che "il fotografo coglie l'attimo".
July 26, 2016
A stunning selection of photographs, beautifully reproduced, each a wonderful example of how to really see the moment and how to capture it in a photograph. Truly appropriate for one and all, not just for children.
February 1, 2017
I continue to be delighted by how great non-fiction books for kids can be. Highly recommended for anyone interested in what makes a great photograph. And a lot of what I read in this book relates to what I know about choreography and collage art as well. Inspiring.
November 25, 2016
I suck at taking pictures. Just putting that out there.
This book was cool to look at; the illustrations are very interesting.
This book was cool to look at; the illustrations are very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews