Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt (b. 26 July 1928 Paris, France) is an advertising and journalistic photographer known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings -- the master of the "indecisive moment".

Early life

At the age of ten, Erwitt emigrated to the U.S. with his family. Erwitt studied photography and filmmaking at the Los Angeles City College and the New School for Social Research, finishing his education in 1950.

Photography career

Born in Paris of 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.

Filmmaking career

Since the 1970s, he has devoted much of his energy toward movies. His feature films, television commercials, and documentaries include "Beauty Knows No Pain" (1971), "Red, White and Bluegrass" (1973) and the prize-winning "Glassmakers of Herat, Afghanistan" (1977).

Notable photographs

* "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.

Books

* "Photographs and Anti-Photographs," 1972.
* "Observations on American Architecture", 1972.
* "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.
* "EE 60/60", 2002.
* "Elliott Erwitt's Handbook", 2002.
* "Woof", 2005.

External links

* [http://www.elliotterwitt.com/ Elliott Erwitt] official site "requires Flash"
* [http://www.magnumphotos.com/c/htm/TreePf_MAG.aspx?Stat=Photographers_Portfolio&E=29YL53IRYAK Magnum Photos portfolio]
* [http://www.kochgallery.com/artists/contemporary/Erwitt/ Robert Koch Gallery portfolio]