Remembering Elliot Erwitt
© Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos
Elliot Erwitt, photographer known for his impactful and often humorous photographs of both daily life and celebrities, has died at 95.
Erwitt is renowned for his light-hearted and humorous compositions as well as his authentic, photojournalistic works. His work captures candid moments with wit, aestheticism, and spontaneous symbolism. Above all, his photos display his ability to keenly observe even the smallest details of the everyday.
According to Magnum, Erwitt was born in 1928 in Paris, and spent his childhood in Milan before moving to the United States in his youth. He took classes in photography at Los Angeles City College before moving to New York. His time in New York briefly ended in 1950 as he was drafted to the U.S. Army and served in Verdun, France.
© Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos
In New York, Erwitt befriended Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. Some of Erwitt’s first projects were commissioned by Stryker, one of which was to document the city of Pittsburgh, building Erwitt’s photojournalistic talent. When Robert Capa established Magnum Photo in 1953, Erwitt joined, maintaining a membership that lasted his lifetime, including a stint as president in the 1960s. Throughout his career, he was commissioned by magazines like Life, Colliers, and Look, as well as private companies like Standard Oil. He ultimately gained recognition for both his personal and professional works.
Many of his photographs are characterized by their light-hearted nature and spontaneity. His playful and charming eye is evident in his famed 1989 photograph of a man leaping over a puddle while a couple embraces under windswept umbrellas, backdropped by the Eiffel Tower. Dogs were a choice subject in much of Erwitt’s work. He often composed humorous scenes of them, like his famous photo of a small dog positioned beside two pairs of legs: one pair belonging to a larger dog and the other to a woman wearing boots, with their bodies not visible within the frame of the photo.
© Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos
Erwitt found his way into the back-rooms of politics and celebrity culture. He photographed Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1964, Jackie Kennedy distraught at President Kennedy’s funeral, and Marilyn Monroe in a robe reading a script. Among his most notable works was the “Kitchen Debate'' at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow, an initiative during the Cold War aimed at showcasing American art, capitalism, and technology to the Soviets. The photo centered on then Vice President Richard Nixon pointing his finger into the chest of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev. It became a symbol of Cold-War era sentiments. Still, when asked about this moment later, he found the humor in it: “it was, if anything, kind of silly.”
Erwitt had an uncanny eye for the human experience, able to find moments of passion and intrigue in any subject. In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, he said “Photography is pretty simple stuff. You just react to what you see, and take many, many pictures.”
© Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos
