Photographer Essay

Elliot Erwitt is a French-born American photographer known for his great sense of humor and irony, which reflects in his photography. After his parents separated, he moved to Los Angeles with his father, where he stayed after his father left for New Orleans when he was just 16 years old. However, he continued to attend high school and taught himself photography simultaneously. He started out as a wedding photographer just to earn some money. He later studied photography at the Los Angeles City College and filmmaking at, what is now, The New School. After his service as a military photographer for France, he was hired at Robert Capa’s recently established, Magnum Photos Agency. He was tasked with documenting film production for The Seven Year Itch and On The Waterfront. His success was so immense that he was able to capture iconic shots of Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Jack Kerouac, and many others. His photographs have been reproduced throughout so many platforms, they are often not recognized as his work. His success was recognized by many in his field, earning him many exhibitions honoring his work and the ICP Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Not only did I choose this photographer because I liked how interesting his name was but also because his work was exactly that, interesting. In his first ever published book “Son of Bitch”, he has a consistent theme which is just dogs. Not only are they really funny photos but they bring you down to the perspective of a dog and give you a taste of what it’s like to actually be a dog. You can really feel what he wants to show. This is why I like his photography, you do more than just look at his photos, you feel them. Although I love this collection of photos, the photo I will be discussing is from his collection titled, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1963. This photo features 2 figures looking at each other while they are seemingly in the middle of the ocean. You see some strong clouds in the background, which could indicate a storm, but this pair of individuals see something more important than impending doom. You can really feel the connection between these 2. They are staring directly into each other’s eyes completely disregarding the real danger they might be in. You can see how he was really playing around with the framing of the photo to portray this feeling between the both of them. He places them at the bottom of the frame so we can see the environment they are in, which gives these 2 head figures more of a story. This photo gives off a feeling that is familiar to me. That feeling of not caring about what is going around in the background, but caring about what is in front of me and only what’s in front of me. Although I love Erwitt’s photos of funny dogs, his more serious work is very conceptual. His vision is truly timeless.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elliott-Erwitt