Elliott Erwitt

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Elliott Erwitt (born Elio Romano Erwitz, July 26, 1928 – November 29, 2023) was a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. He was a member of Magnum Photos from 1953.

Early lifeEdit

Elliott Erwitt was born in Paris, France, on July 26, 1928, to Jewish-Russian immigrant parents, Eugenia and Boris Erwitz, who soon moved to Italy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1939, when he was 10 years old, his family migrated to the United States. He studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College<ref name=GuardianObituary>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the New School for Social Research.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1951, he was drafted into the Army, and discharged in 1953.<ref name=GuardianObituary />

Photography careerEdit

File:Elliott Erwitt in the Westlicht Museum of Photography, Vienna.jpg

Vienna, 2012

Erwitt served as a photographer's assistant in the 1950s in the United States Army while stationed in France and Germany. After moving to New York in 1948, he met the photographers Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He then began a freelance photographer career and produced work for Collier's, Look, Life and Holiday. Erwitt was invited to become a member of Magnum Photos by the founder Robert Capa in 1953.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Again and again he has also documented socio-political events in his photographs, such as Richard Nixon's visit to the Soviet Union in 1959,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the funeral service for John F. Kennedy in 1963<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

One of the subjects Erwitt has frequently photographed in his career is dogs: they have been the subject of five of his books, Son of Bitch (1974), To the Dogs (1992), Dog Dogs (1998), Woof (2005), and Elliott Erwitt's Dogs (2008).<ref name="Cripps">Template:Cite news</ref>

Erwitt created an alter ego, the beret-wearing and pretentious "André S. Solidor" (which abbreviates to "ass"), "a contemporary artist, from one of the French colonies in the Caribbean, I forget which one" to "satirise the kooky excesses of contemporary photography." His work was published in a book, The Art of André S. Solidor (2009), and exhibited in 2011 at the Paul Smith Gallery in London.<ref name="Cripps" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Erwitt was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal in 2002 in recognition of a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a Royal Photographic Society Honorary Fellowship in 1994<ref>Honorary Fellowship https://rps.org/about/awards/history-and-recipients/honorary-fellowship/</ref> and the International Center for Photography's Infinity Award, Lifetime Achievement category, in 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Filmmaking careerEdit

From the 1970s, he devoted much of his energy toward movies. His feature films, television commercials, and documentary films included Arthur Penn: the Director (1970), Beauty Knows No Pain (1971), Red, White and Bluegrass (1973) and the prize-winning Glassmakers of Herat, Afghanistan (1977).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was, as well, credited as camera operator for Gimme Shelter (1970), still photographer for Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (2005), and provided additional photography for Get Yer Ya Ya's Out (2009).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A collection of Erwitt's films were screened in 2011 as part of the DocNYC Festival's special event "An Evening with Elliott Erwitt".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PhilanthropyEdit

In October 2020, Erwitt partnered with the digital collectible cards company Phil Ropy and created a card to raise awareness for Project HOPE's COVID-19 response. The picture on the card shows a pair of medical rubber gloves as a reminder of how exposed health-care workers are and as an allusion to Project HOPE's logo.<ref name="PH2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The proceeds from the sales of the card are redistributed to the organization.<ref name="PH1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PH3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Erwitt was married to the German filmmaker and writer Pia Frankenberg from 1998 to 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

DeathEdit

Erwitt died at his home in New York on November 29, 2023, while sleeping. He was 95.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref>

PublicationsEdit

1972 – Photographs and Anti-Photographs Template:ISBN
1972 – Observations on American Architecture Template:ASIN
1974 – Elliott Erwitt: The Private Experience (In the series "Masters of Contemporary Photography", text by Sean Callahan.) Los Angeles: Petersen. Sean Callahan describes and to some extent explains Erwitt's work. Template:ISBN
1974 – Son of Bitch, photographs of dogs Template:ISBN
1978 – Recent Developments Template:ISBN
1988 – Personal Exposures Template:ISBN
1991 – On the Beach Template:ISBN
1992 – To The Dogs Template:ASIN
1993 – The Angel Tree
1994 – Between the Sexes Template:ISBN
1997 – 100+1 Elliott Erwitt Template:ISBN
1998 – Dog Dogs A collection of black and white photographs of dogs Erwitt was intrigued by throughout his world travels.Template:ISBN
1999 – Museum Watching Template:ISBN
2001 – Snaps. London & New York: Phaidon. A large anthology (over 500 pages) of Erwitt's work. Template:ISBN
2002 – EE 60/60 Template:ISBN
2002 – Elliott Erwitt's Handbook Template:ISBN
2005 – Woof Template:ISBN
2009 – Elliott Erwitt's Rome. teNeues Publishing Template:ASIN
2009 – Elliott Erwitt's New York Template:ISBN
2010 – The Art of Andre S. Solidor aka Elliott Erwitt Template:ISBN
2010 – Elliott Erwitt Personal Best Template:ISBN
2011 – Elliott Erwitt, Sequentially Yours Template:ISBN
2012 – Elliott Erwitt XXL – Special and Collectors Edition Template:ISBN
2013 – Elliott Erwitt's Kolor Kempen, Germany: teNeues Template:ISBN.
2017 – Pittsburgh 1950 London. Gost. With an essay by Vaughn Wallace. Photographs made in Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh Photographic Library. Template:ISBN
2018 – Elliot Erwitt's Scotland. teNeues Publishing Company Template:ISBN
2021 – Found, Not Lost. London. Gost. Template:ISBN

ExhibitionsEdit

Roma. Fotografie di Elliott Erwitt, Museo di Roma, Rome, November 2009 – January 2010<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best, International Center of Photography, New York, May–August 2011<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Elliott Erwitt, Black & White and Kolor, A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans, 2011<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt: Home Around The World, Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 2016–2017<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh 1950, International Center of Photography, New York, 2018<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt: A retrospective, Musée Maillol, Paris, 2023<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt. Retrospective in Brussels, Grand Place, Brussels, 2024<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Elliott Erwitt. Vintages, Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe, 2024<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Iconic photographsEdit

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USA, New York City, 1946 – Street-level shot comparing the size of a woman's feet to a chihuahua wearing a sweater.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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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.