The Leica Picture of the Year 2025: Joel Meyerowitz’s street photography masterpiece captures the magic of New York

Captured at the fringes of New York’s famous Puerto Rican Day Parade in 1963, the photograph shows four impeccably dressed women gathered in a Fifth Avenue doorway, touching up their makeup. It’s a scene overflowing with life, color, and the unspoken choreography of the street – the kind Meyerowitz has spent a lifetime mastering.

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The image Puerto Rican Day Parade, Manhattan, New York City 1963 speaks to perception, timing, and confidence – qualities that have defined great street photography since its earliest days.

“I used the parades as a way to overcome my shyness. Because the people in the crowd were absorbed by the passing show in the street, I could slip in under their gaze like a plane flying too low to be picked up on radar,” Meyerowitz remembers. “They were about the heat of the moment.”

Since 1959, the Puerto Rican Day Parade has been one of New York’s most vibrant celebrations: an expression of self-confidence and celebration of Puerto Rico’s rich culture and history, particularly for the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent living across the United States.

Meyerowitz’s photo captures that exact spirit. Amid the parade’s bustle, he remained invisible – responding instinctively to what he describes as a flood of impressions.

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Was it the colors of people’s clothes, their hairstyles, their shoes that caught his eye?

For him, photographing on the street became a form of visual training, as Meyerowitz explains: “One of the very first things I learned working on the street was that when the moment arrives you simply make a picture of the moment.”

The image of the four women thus speaks volumes about perception and spontaneity, and can still be viewed today as a document of the times.

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Portrait Joel Meyerowitz (Image credit: © Joel Meyerowitz)

Born in 1938, Meyerowitz has been one of America’s most influential photographers since the 1960s. His embrace of color as a design element reshaped the very language of street photography.

It was precisely 90 minutes that prompted his life-changing decision, after watching Robert Frank move through the streets with a Leica – gliding with somnambulistic ease.

Meyerowitz quit his advertising job the same day and threw himself into the exhilarating world of street photography. His Leica M2 soon became his trusted companion, sharpening his instinct as he chased the tension and everyday magic of life.

The Leica Picture of the Year 2025 is available exclusively through the 27 Leica galleries worldwide, continuing the brand’s tradition of offering collectors the chance to own a curated, museum-grade piece of photographic history.

Edition details:
– Only 81 prints available
– 40x50cm (15.75×19.69 inch)
– Motif size 25.4×38.1cm (10×15 inch)
– Printed onCanson Infinity Satin 260 g/m²
– Printed by Prolab Fotofachlabor, Germany
– Includes: signature label, edition number, authenticity
certificate, presentation folder
– Price: €1,250 (net) (approx. $1,454 / £1,098 / AU$2,219)
– Available from December 2025

For collectors, this is one of the most sought-after Leica editions of the year – and with just 81 prints, it won’t last long.

The Leica Picture of the Year isn’t simply an annual honor – it stands as a curated tribute to the photographers who shaped the brand’s visual legacy. Since 2021, Leica has chosen one Half-of-Fame photographer each year, offering us a chance to own a part of Leica history.

Meyerowitz’s 1963 image highlights that the essence of great street photography – timing, presence, and instinctive composition – remains as relevant in 2025 as ever.