From Yesterday Today:
Meryl Meisler is a photographer based in New York. Inspired by Diane Arbus and Jacques Henri Lartigue, she began photographing herself, family, and friends while enrolled in a photography class taught by Cavalliere Ketchum at The University of Wisconsin, Madison.
In 1975, Meryl returned to New York City and studied with Lisette Model, continuing to photograph her hometown and the city around her. Carrying her medium format camera everywhere with great delight – Meryl photographed the world she knew on Long Island– donning childhood uniforms and costumes for self-portraits, comedic insider views of family and friends homes, the hilarity of her parents’ Mystery Club circle. “Not in mine eyes alone is Paradise,” declares Dante in Paradiso. Many viewed ‘70s NYC as hell, purgatory at best. With an open mind and heart, Meryl found paradise photographing the streets and nightlife of The City, many so wild she never dared to show them until now.