Starting on 29 June, the Ernst Leitz Museum will show a Joel Meyerowitz retrospective, and the Leica Gallery in Wetzlar will exhibit work by Édouard Elias and Jamie Cullum

In 2025, Leica Camera AG is honouring the 100th anniversary of the Leica I. The programme celebrating the centenary includes worldwide exhibitions and events. In tribute to the region and city of Wetzlar, the birthplace of the Leica, numerous events will be held here over the course of the anniversary year. Among them, three prestigious exhibits at the Leitz Park will highlight the rich diversity of Leica photography: a solo show by Joel Meyerowitz, one of the most important and influential proponents of American street photography, as well as an exhibition showcasing the unique artistic perspective of French reportage photographer Édouard Elias, supported by a very personal selection of works by musician and Leica photographer Jamie Cullum. The exhibitions will be open to visitors from 29 June and will run until 21 September 2025.

Joel Meyerowitz: The Pleasure of Seeing

The Ernst Leitz Museum has put together a comprehensive retrospective exploring the life’s work of the renowned American photographer Joel Meyerowitz. The 100 exhibited images were selected by the artist himself. Meyerowitz has been one of the United States’ most significant photographers since the 60s. His street photography is unmistakable, with colour playing an essential role. The selected works range from the 60s with Meyerowitz’s early pictures of New York, to photos from Europe and China, snapshots from the streets of various metropolises, dramatic scenes in Manhattan after the 9/11 terror attack, to quiet still lifes with objects from Paul Cézanne’s and Giorgio Morandi’s ateliers, supplemented by self-portraits that the photographer has taken over the years. The exhibition will feature many images that have long been considered iconic. But there are also some recent discoveries, such as two images taken from the very first roll of film he used with his Leica M2 back in 1963.

New York is at the heart of his work. After meeting Robert Frank, Meyerowitz decided to quit his job as an art director and become a photographer. The ever-changing streetscapes, the tangle of logos and signs, and the encounters with diverse people and groups became his daily inspiration for photographic exploration. He started out by taking pictures in colour, added black and white to his palette a year later, and then finally devoted himself almost entirely to colour photography – not a matter of course in the 60s when the cost of developing colour film was still high and artistic photography was dominated by monochrome images. During a year-long sojourn in Europe in 1966/67, he worked with two Leica cameras, one for black and white film and one for colour, in order to study the difference in visual impact. A few years later, Meyerowitz became one of the leading figures establishing colour as an artistic medium.

The exhibition The Pleasure of Seeing, being shown at the Ernst Leitz Museum, prepared by Joel Meyerowitz together with the curators Karin Rehn-Kaufmann and Inas Fayed, presents the richness and constant development of the photographer’s work. It also gives insights into the street photography genre, the history of photography, and how this medium has transformed. Meyerowitz fascinates us with his precisely composed images. He continues to move through the streets like an elegant dancer today, smooth but at the same time reserved, always coming as close to the action as possible.

The subjects of his photos continue to enthral us decades after being caught on film, inviting us to explore the scenes without ever revealing their meaning entirely. Meyerowitz’s pictures are still eye openers to this day, which is all the more important in times when most pedestrians are engrossed in staring at their mobile phones.

Édouard Elias: Eyewitness

Gritty images of war, flight, oppression, and poverty: this is the topic dominating work by French photographer and journalist Édouard Elias (born in 1991). He is part of a group of young photojournalists committed to bearing witness to social and humanitarian crises taking place all over the world. The Leica Gallery in Wetzlar is showing a selection of work from the photographer’s three most important series: Well 77, a reportage from the start of 2017 about the dramatic work to extinguish fires that had broken out at oil wells in Iraq. The second series, SOS Aquarius, was created in early 2016 on board the rescue ship Aquarius, which was attempting to save the lives of migrants in the Mediterranean who were attempting to reach Europe aboard ill-equipped boats. The images from the third series belong to a reportage from the Central African Republic, where Elias accompanied a group of Foreign Legionnaires who were deployed as part of a French mission during the brutal civil war that raged in the African country in 2014. Elias’ method is characterised by empathetic tenacity: he engages with topics, places, and people intensively in order to avoid superficial, sensational reporting and to create an emotional connection with the protagonists of his photographs. His pictures show the resilience and courage of those who are confronted with adversity and bring their stories to the fore through his direct participation and personal experiences.

Jamie Cullum: These Are the Days

The successful English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jamie Cullum (born in 1979) has for many years dedicated himself to photography, his second great passion after music. As a Leica Ambassador, he already exhibited his work at the photokina in 2014. Cullum uses his Leica cameras to create a kind of visual diary. Not only does he capture special places during his tours in quiet still lifes and landscape pictures, but he also portrays himself as well as his fellow musicians and chance acquaintances. With his colour and black and white images, he allows private glimpses into his world, while also documenting the many impressions and situations he experiences during his travels with his keen eye. He has long become much more than an amateur photographer. He uses the medium of photography as a creative tool to connect with the world around him more deeply. The title of the exhibition refers to a song that he released in 2004 on his album Twentysomething.

The exhibition was made possible with the kind support of WhiteWall.

Biographies:

Joel Meyerowitz was born on 6 March 1938 in New York City. He first studied painting before working as an art director. After meeting photographer Robert Frank, he decided to quit his job and dedicate himself to photography. Having gained intense experience on the streets of New York and made a few trips through the States, he travelled to Europe in 1966/67. He worked with different Leica M-models, such as the M2, M4, and M6, and continues to use the M- and S-Systems to create his pictures today. Meyerowitz has published various books and received many accolades, such as the Leica Hall of Fame Award, with which Leica Camera AG honoured his life’s work in 2016. Meyerowitz lives in New York and London.

Édouard Elias was born on 29 June 1991 in Nîmes, France, the son of an Egyptian father and a French mother. After living in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for ten years, he moved back to France in 2009 to begin studying business, but transferred to the École de Condé in Nancy to study photography. During his studies, he began photographing Syrian refugees in Turkey and reporting on the situation in Syria without a commission. While pursuing this mission, he was taken hostage by Islamic State fighters on 6 June 2013 and held for 11 months. After this experience, he committed himself as a photographer even more intensely to humanitarian catastrophes and the world’s conflict areas. His latest reportage took him to Ukraine. His work has been published many times, and he has received several notable photography awards. Elias works with different Leica M-models: M2, M5, MP, M11-P, and a Leica M Monochrom.

Jamie Cullum was born on 20 August 1979 in Essex, England. He already garnered his first musical experience as a small child. To pay for his literature and film studies, he worked as a musician at many clubs and bars. His first album was released in 1999, his second after he graduated in 2001. He won the Rising Star category at the British Jazz Awards in 2003. Just as his music exhibits a wide range of styles, an exciting crossover is also evident in his photographs. Jamie Cullum lives in London.

Quotes by Joel Meyerowitz:

“Photography has taught me everything I know about myself and the world.”

“I have always considered myself to be an advocate of colour. It was always about real life for me, not gaudy moments. I want to describe everything I see. And colour opens up a new dimension for us to do so.”

Quotes by Édouard Elias:

“As a photographer, I view my practice as a form of storytelling. It’s akin to arranging words and phrases to convey a narrative.”

“Engaging in this work is more than a profession – it’s a passion and a necessity. It demands dedication, often at the expense of personal comfort and safety. It’s not the danger that draws me; it’s the opportunity to be present where history unfolds.”

Quote by Jamie Cullum:

“I believe a photo leaves a long-lasting impression if you manage to capture a moment that shows how bizarre and incredible the world really is.”.

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