Gus Powell

Gus Powell, like Joel Meyerowitz, is a born and bred New Yorker with an incredible eye. I've known Gus for a couple of decades and am a longtime admirer of his work.

In his street photography, gathered in the series Lunch Pictures and Mise-en-Scène, the parallels to Meyerowitz are unmistakable. (Gus’ work is also reminiscent of Balthus’ The Street, albeit without the menacing component.) Both photographers are brilliant at noticing all the elements that make for a great street photograph: composition, color, flâneurs and lurkers, oddities, and of course, light and shadow.

Gus brings the same observational intensity and formal rigor to all his work, whether photographing streets, landscapes, or the intimate territory of family. His 2017 book The Lonely Ones pairs photographs with wordplay in homage to William Steig, while Family Car Trouble (2021) is a touching meditation on life, death, and a car — a love letter to his family. Both books are for the ages.

His whimsy and wit graced ad space across NYC in 2019, when Nordstrom commissioned him to create imagery for their flagship store launch. He has also photographed for Rachel Comey, Kate Spade, Adidas, and MoMA.