Elio Romano Erwitz, or later known as Elliott Erwitt, was born in the heart of Paris, France on July 26, 1928. Elliott was born to Russian emigrates, Boris and Eugenia Erwitz, who later on change their surname to Erwitt’s when moving to the United states. The Erwitz family moved to Milan, Italy when Elliott was young and stayed there throughout the 1930s. Days before the breakout of World War II, they moved to New York City. Ironically shortly after they left the country of romance Elliott’s parents separated, causing Elliott to move to Los Angeles with his father. However, when Elliot was only 16 years old, Boris left for New Orleans, leaving Elliot on his own. He stayed in high school and found a passion for photography, and actually used this passion to earn money as a wedding photographer. He studied photography at Los Angeles City College and took photography and filmmaking classes at the New School for Social Research until 1950 (Blumberg, Naomi).
I believe that Elliott living in Italy, the city of romance, for as long as he did really shape the way he saw love, which is portrayed through his photography rather he knows it or not. When asked about the California 1955 photo, one of the photos from the series A Kiss is (More Than) Just a Kiss, Elliott Erwitt stated “Sometimes you know, but usually you don’t, I never knew that I had that picture until 25 years after I took it” (Lee, Edmund). Because of this quote, is the reason I chose to talk about this photo, because it represents him perfectly. It has a romantic feel to it, considering it is a photo of a young couple kissing while watching the waves of the sea. As well as the way the camera was positioned during the photo gives the sense that it was an accidental discovery, which is a theme Elliott practiced frequently. Even though a lot of Elliott’s photos were taken as it was an accidental discovery, which is what he was known for, he still had the chance to photograph well known celebrity and family friends, like the fabulous Marilyn Monroe, and still had a way of making it seem natural, as if it was not posed.
In 1953 Elliott was invited to join Magnum Photos agency by Robert Capa, a photographer he met while studying photography and filmmaking. Robert hired him to work on sets for movies such as The Seven Year Itch (1954) and On the Waterfront (1955). There he gained access to captured iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, and many more (Blumberg, Naomi). He became friends with Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe’s husband at the time, who he continued to take photos of throughout the rest of the 1950s into the early 1960s. Elliott always appreciated photographing Marilyn due to her beauty, photographed in happy or sad times, no matter what element of life was effecting her she still looked radiant.
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Elliott once stated “Being photogenic was a strong element of her fame” which he whole heartily believed. The photograph of Marilyn was taken in 1956, the year Marilyn and Arthur got married; capturing her during one of her happier moments. Elliott photographed her reading a book, to show that she wasn’t a dumb blonde, like she played in most films; she was actually an avid reader, which a lot of people did not know (Phaidon). I feel as if Elliot photographed Marilyn this way not only to portray her intelligence, but to also show young girls you can have beauty and brains. Considering Monroe is a major sex symbol, I feel like seeing her in a different light sent a good message to women, saying that women are not just sex symbols for men, they also have their own passions, that should frequently have time set aside to do, such as her love for reading.
Marilyn Monroe was not the only subject Elliott frequently photographed in his career, he also loved to photograph dogs. He shows his love for dogs through hundreds of photos, which were display in five of his books: Son of Bitch (1974), To the Dogs (1992), Dog Dogs (1998), Woof (2005), and Elliott Erwitt’s Dogs (2008). Elliott was known for his street photography, which is displayed in most of his work, including his work with dogs. He took photos of dogs as he traveled to different locations, making it easy to get tons of material while seeing the world. His photos of dogs showed ironic scenes, he photographed dogs doing ordinary things but makes it seem extraordinary, most of the time doing human-like activities and expressions (Mendoza, Jean). The Magnum Photo that was captured in Ireland in 1968 portrays just that. It is just a photo of a women holding her dog, like all owners do, but at first glimpse it looks as if the human has a dog face, due to the fact the lady’s hair blends into the Yorkshire Terrier. Elliott used a high aperture that gave the little bit of background that was showing, a shallow depth of field. Due to the fact, the background was not important in this particular photo. This photo was one my favorite dog photograph Elliott took, because I am a strong believer of dogs looking like their owners, and this photo depicts that statement true.
As I have stated before, Elliott Erwitt was really good at making ordinary things seem extraordinary, which is why I feel he blossomed doing ironic photos, because in a way all of his photos had a little bit of irony. The Colorado, 1955 photo was a very popular photo of Elliott Erwitt’s, I feel as if it is due to the fact that it feels significant because when looking at it, it takes people to a memory. The little boy it is a photo of resembles the kid off the Christmas story. Most people have seen a Christmas story, and have heard the famous line “You will shoot your eye out, kid” and ironically the eye that the glass is over is the eye that the kid on the Christmas story shot out, as well as is wearing strips, like the little boy in the Christmas story is.
The background has a high aperture due to the fact the background is not important, I personally feel as if the car isn’t that important, but the car had to be in focus to have the glass in focus. Now, I don’t know if that was the message Elliott was trying to portray, but that is what makes art, art; everyone gets to decide what their concept of the photo is. I feel as if this wasn’t a plan shot, but it turned out being a very great shot. One reason I don’t think it was posed, is Elliott’s shadow, I feel as if the photo was posed he would of retook it to where he wasn’t in the photo. Although his shadow being in the photo does not lower the quality of the photo, it is hardly noticeable at first glance. This photo along with a lot of his other photos has a frame within a frame, which I believe adds to the photo incredibly.
Elliott Erwitt had an important impact on the world, due to the fact it Shows that life is highly unpredictable, sometimes funny, and usually ironic, but never boring, even the simplest things can be beautiful looking at it through the right angle. I feel as if that is an important lesson for people to know, and sometimes need help to learn. Elliott Erwitt stated: “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.”
Due to this talent Elliott has, made him successful with photojournalism, commercial photograph, etc. Elliott Erwitt added a specific kind of humor and irony to everyday life, and positivity, that effect it had on people was inspirational. Which is why Elliott successfully released 21 books throughout his career, 5 being about dogs, 2 being in New York, 1 in Cuba, 1 being in Pittsburgh, 1 focusing of Exposure, 1 focusing of Aperture, 1 being made by his alter ego, Andre S. Solidor, and etc. (Blumberg, Naomi). Along with multiple rewards such as the Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement, Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal and an honorary fellowship; which all were well deserved (Singleton, Erica, and Elliott Erwitt).
