Elliott Erwitt
Encyclopedia
Elliott ErwittElliott 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— a master of Henri Cartier-Bresson
's "decisive moment".
. Erwitt studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College
and the New School for Social Research, finishing his education in 1950.
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
agency in 1953 allowed Erwitt to shoot photography projects around the world.
s, television commercials, and documentary film
s 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).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1268351/
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is an advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and documentary photographer
Documentary photography
Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or academic pursuit...
known for his black and white candid shots of ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
and absurd
Absurd
Absurd or The Absurd may refer to:* Absurdity, general and technical usage - associated with extremely poor reasoning, the ridiculous, or nonsense....
situations within everyday settings— a master of Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
's "decisive moment".
Early life
In 1939, at the age of ten, Erwitt's family, of Russian origin, emigrated to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Erwitt studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
and the New School for Social Research, finishing his education in 1950.
Photography career
Born in Paris of Jewish-Russian immigrant parents, Erwitt served as a photographer's assistant in the 1950s in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
while stationed in France and Germany. Erwitt was influenced by his meeting the famous photographers, Edward Steichen
Edward Steichen
Edward J. Steichen was an American photographer, painter, and art gallery and museum curator. He was the most frequently featured photographer in Alfred Stieglitz' groundbreaking magazine Camera Work during its run from 1903 to 1917. Steichen also contributed the logo design and a custom typeface...
, Robert Capa
Robert Capa
Robert Capa was a Hungarian combat photographer and photojournalist who covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War...
and Roy Stryker
Roy Stryker
Roy Emerson Stryker was an American economist, government official, and photographer. He is most famous for heading the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration during the Great Depression and launching the documentary photography movement of the FSA.After serving in the infantry...
. Stryker, the former Director of the Farm Security Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
'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
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
, Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
and Holiday
Holiday (magazine)
Holiday was an American travel magazine published from 1946 to 1977. Originally published by the Curtis Publishing Company, Holidays circulation grew to over one million subscribers at its height....
magazine..
Joining the Magnum PhotosMagnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
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 filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s, television commercials, and documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s 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
No Direction Home
No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
(2005), and provided Addition Photography for "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out (2009).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1268351/
Notable photographs
- USA, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 1946 - Streetlevel shot comparing the size of a woman's feet to a sweatered chihuahuaChihuahua (dog)The ' is the smallest breed of dog and is so named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Chihuahuas come in a wide variety of sizes, head shapes, colors and coat lengths.-History:...
. - USA, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, SegregatedRacial segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
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 DaneGreat DaneThe Great Dane , also known as German Mastiff or Danish Hound , is a breed of domestic dog known for its giant size...
's legs and a little chihuahua. - USSR, Russia, Moscow, Nikita KhrushchevNikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
and Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, 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.
- Elliott Erwitt's Rome:teNeues Publishing, 2009
- Elliott Erwitt's New York:teNeues Publishing,', 2009
- The Art of Andre S. Solidor aka Elliott Erwitt, 2010
- Elliott Erwitt Personal Best, 2010
External links
- Elliott Erwitt official site requires Flash
- Magnum Photos portfolio
- Robert Koch Gallery portfolio
- "Elliott Erwitt at the Museo di Roma," Financial Times (London), November 20 2009
- Peter Conrad, Elliott Erwitt's law of intended consequences, The Observer, 20 February 2011
- ' NY Times article about the exhibition May to August at the ICP, New York City
- Elliott Erwitt's Personal Best eBook, 2011