HP Partners with Acclaimed Photographer For NYC Parks Archival Project

Hewlett-Packard announced the culmination of a three-year partnership with celebrated photographer Joel Meyerowitz with the exhibition opening of “Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks” at the Museum of the City of New York.

Capturing the parks throughout the five boroughs, the exhibition showcases the majesty of the city’s coveted park areas in large photographic prints. The exhibition will run through March 7, 2010.

To print the exhibition images, Meyerowitz relied on HP’s large-format printing portfolio, including the HP Designjet Z3200 Photo Printer and the HP Designjet L65500 Printer, to produce high-quality prints and large-scale graphics.

“Experiencing the print quality and longevity of HP Designjet photo printers was a key turning point in my own personal digital transformation,” said Meyerowitz. “HP’s innovative printing technology has made it easy to express my work in new, creative ways and with this project, I was not only able to showcase exhibit-quality prints but also high-quality wall graphics that capture the essence of New York City’s parks.”

The images for “Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks” were taken between 2006 and 2009, and include nearly 3,000 photographs of the city’s parks. These images have become the HP Photographic Archive of New York City Parks and will be made available for public use by the New York City Parks Department. HP provided financial support for this project, which serves as a visual testimony of the present and future history of the city’s most cherished parks.

“HP has tremendous respect for Joel Meyerowitz and his creative vision. We appreciate the importance of this project as it is the first comprehensive study of New York City’s parks since the 1930s,” said Francis McMahon, marketing director, Graphics Solutions Business, HP.

The multipart exhibition allows visitors to experience the parks via large-scale environmental graphics and a fine art photographic exhibit showcasing, in total, more than 90 color and detail-rich images. The exhibition captures the diverse wildlife and beauty of the city’s parks from the southernmost (Conference House Park in Staten Island) to the northernmost (Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx), from the easternmost (Alley Pond park in Queens) to the westernmost (Fort Washington park, also in the Bronx). It additionally showcases the largest (Pelham Bay park in the Bronx) to the smallest (North Brother Island) to the most exotic (the private Hallett Nature Sanctuary at the south end of Central Park).

To augment the exhibition, the Aperture Foundation is publishing a limited edition luxury boxed set, which includes a coffee-table book, “Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz”; “The Hallett,” a limited-edition book printed on an HP Indigo press 5500; and an archival pigment-ink print “Central Park, Hallett Nature Sanctuary, autumn 2006,” printed on HP Designjet Z3200 printers. The box set is limited to 250 numbered copies and 20 artist’s proofs. Each print and limited-edition book is signed and numbered by Meyerowitz.

Meyerowitz was born and raised in the Bronx. He has published more than 15 books, including Cape Light (1978) and Aftermath: The World Trade Center Archive (2006). For more information, visit www.joelmeyerowitz.com.