Book Review 002: Elliot Erwitt, Paris
What can I say about one of the most humorous photographers in the world? Elliott Erwitt lives in Paris born to American parents and a member of Magnum photos since 1953. He worked most of his life as photojournalist and is often called a visual humorist. Although humor has never been highly regarded in the visual arts, Erwitt’s photographic puns constantly find animal and man on a comic stage.
‘’The main thirst of Erwitt’s work lies in his comic profound awareness of the gap between nobility and reality or between subject and setting which blunder unpredictably into rhyme or battle with each other’’ – Vicki Goldberg, one of Photography’s more profound commentators. I read this while browsing through Raymond Meritt’s book ‘The Dog in Photography’ by Taschen Publishers (a wonderful book, one of my prized possessions). I guess each of those words resonate with what I feel about Erwitt’s work and simply couldn’t agree more.
‘The best things happen when you just happen to be somewhere with a camera’ – Elliot Erwitt. Erwitt has shot over 70 years and that includes John F Kennedy at the White House, Fidel Castro in Cuba and Richard Nixon in Moscow. He also has shot Marilyn Monroe and French Feminist and famous author Simone De Beauvoir. Another of his famous images is of Josef Koudelka, another fellow amazing Magnum photographer. He really embodies the quote ‘always wear a camera’ by Thorsten Overgaard (Danish Street photographer).
Being someone who love the people, city, food and everything in Paris – the first book I got of him is naturally titled “Paris’’. And the cover of the first photo is one taken in Place Du Trocedero where a man with Umbrella is hoping over overlooking the Eiffel Tower backdrop and a couple getting their umbrella rattled by wind while the man holding his arching partner. One of my favorite images by him – so poetic. The book all black and white, beautiful grained photos. He was out there capturing daily life and that’s why I resonate with his photos so well. He takes out the daily mundane things that often goes unnoticed and turn them into something extraordinary.
Another one of my favorite pages in the book is the set of 18 pictures taken consecutively at probably the Jardin Du Luxembourg (I have been here, such an amazing Jardin really!). The 18 pictures provide an entire story of how a lady is waiting for her partner to the partner interacting and taking photos and the lady dancing and hugging and eventually leaving. All the photos are taken from the same spot, I wonder how long it took to photograph the entire sequence. But that only goes to show the foresight that Erwitt had. As I’m writing this, I’m going over the book and once again its just so beautiful seeing his images. There is also a 2-page layout of all magnum photographers with their distinctive fishing jackets, Leicas and between them they hold some of the world’s most prized and famous and most storied and seen photographs.
I think what is distinct between his photographs and many other photojournalists is the ability to make one smile, evoke a pleasant sentiment towards life. Photojournalism is almost mostly synonymous with wars, events and many other stories that bring to light the sad and depressed, but his photographs are actually quite the opposite. They are endearing and very lovable. It would be hard for one not to break into a smile while viewing his photographs. His images of dogs are some of my favorites. Although I have never owned a dog before, it’s my favorite animal (besides Dolphins). The way he photographed dogs is almost as if the dogs understood him, he captured them in their rawest forms. Some images made the dogs appear as fashion models like the ones you would see on a Vogue Photoshoot.
The book is wonderfully sequenced, it’s the size of a typical diary. All the images are in black and white taken in and around Paris. Although this is the only Erwitt book I have, I’m in the midst of acquiring other books by him most notably ‘Personal best’. When I do that, would definitely be writing a review of that. Besides that, thank you for reading this far and I hope to bring to you more of my favorite photography books as well as my travel stories (whenever Covid permits).