"Now very often events are set up for photographers... The weddings are orchestrated about the photographers taking the picture, because if it hasn't been photographed it doesn't really exist." -- Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt (b. 26 July 1928 Paris, France) is an advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings -- the master of the "decisive moment".
"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.""You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy."
In 1939, at the age of ten, Erwitt's family, of French origin, emigrated to the United States. Erwitt studied photography and filmmaking at the Los Angeles City College and the New School for Social Research, finishing his education in 1950.
Born in Paris of Jewish-Russian immigrant parents, Erwitt served as a photographer's assistant in the 1950's in the United States Army while stationed in France and Germany. Erwitt was influenced by his meeting the famous photographers, Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. Stryker, the former Director of the Farm Security Administration's photography department, hired Erwitt to work on a photography project for the Standard Oil Company. Erwitt then began a freelance photographer career and produced work for Collier's, Look, Life and Holiday magazines.Joining the Magnum Photos agency in 1953 allowed Erwitt to shoot photography projects around the world.
Since the 1970s, he has devoted much of his energy toward movies. His feature films, television commercials, and documentary films include "Arthur Penn: the Director" (1970), Beauty Knows No Pain (1971), Red, White and Bluegrass (1973) and the prize-winning Glassmakers of Herat, Afghanistan (1977). He was, as well, credited as Camera Operator for "Gimme Shelter" (1970), Still Photographer for "Bob Dylan: No Direction Home" (2005), and provided Addition Photography for "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out (2009).[1]
USA, New York City, 1946 - Streetlevel shot comparing the size of a woman's feet to a sweatered chihuahua.
USA, North Carolina, Segregated Water Fountains, 1950.
USA, New York City, 1953 - Image of Erwitt's wife looking at their baby on a bed lit by window light.
USA, NYC, Felix, Gladys, and Rover, 1974 - Image of a woman's booted feet between that of a Great Dane's legs and a little chihuahua.
USSR, Russia, Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon, 1959 - Powerful Cold War image in which Nixon is poking his index finger at Khrushchev's suit lapel.
USA, California, 1955 - Image of a side-view mirror of an automobile parked facing a beach sunset, with a playful couple shown in the mirror as the focal point.
Elliott Erwitt: The Private Experience. (In the series "Masters of Contemporary Photography", text by Sean Callahan.) Los Angeles: Petersen, 1974. ISBN 0-8227-0070-0 Sean Callahan describes and to some extent explains Erwitt's work.
Son of Bitch, 1974. Photographs of dogs.
Recent Developments, 1978.
Personal Exposures. 1988.
On the Beach, 1991.
To The Dogs, 1992.
The Angel Tree, 1993.
Between the Sexes, 1994.
100+1 Elliott Erwitt, 1997.
Dog Dogs, 1998 A collection of black and white photographs of dogs Erwitt was intrigued by throughout his world travels.
Museum Watching, 1999.
Snaps. London & New York: Phaidon, 2001. ISBN 0-7148-4150-1 A large anthology (over 500 pages) of Erwitt's work.
