“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”. Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt is considered one of the icons of 20th-century photography; he is a photographer whose curiosity and powers of observation have captured everyday moments of life. With subtle humor, a keen sense of perception, and always with a twinkle in his eye, he photographed what connects the world and its people.
Born in Paris in 1928 to Russian immigrants, Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan before moving to Paris in 1938 and subsequently emigrating to the United States. His interest in photography began while he was a teenager living in Hollywood. While attending Hollywood High School, he began working in a commercial darkroom in 1944.
In 1948, Erwitt moved to New York, where he met the influential photographers Edward Steichen, Robert Capa, and Roy Stryker, who became his most important mentors. Roy Stryker, the former head of the Farm Security Administration, initially hired Erwitt to build up a photographic library for Standard Oil, and subsequently commissioned him to undertake a project documenting the city of Pittsburgh.
In 1949, Erwitt returned to Europe travelling and photographing in France and Italy with his trusty Rolleiflex camera. This marked the beginning of his professional career. In 1951, he was drafted for military service and undertook various photographic duties while serving with an Army Signal Corps unit in Germany and France.
After leaving the army in 1953, Erwitt returned to New York. There, photographer Robert Capa invited him to join the renowned Magnum photo agency, which had been founded a few years earlier by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David “Chim” Seymour.
New York has been Erwitt’s home ever since, and his studio on Central Park West has been the port from which he has travelled the world for over seventy years.
© 2025, Birgit Filzmaier