Secret of iconic photos? Mostly luck, says Elliott Erwitt
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Even if you don't recognize his name, chances are you've seen Elliott Erwitt's photographs. Over seven decades he's taken portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Fidel Castro and Andy Warhol. He's documented segregation in the South.
Perhaps most surprisingly, he's made people laugh.
It's hard to describe his work, on display now at Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis, without using the word "iconic." But the 87-year-old says iconic is in the eye of the beholder.
"For me, they're just pictures that I've taken over the years," he said. "Some of them have been more successful than others."
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Those successful ones are images that have stuck in people's minds — a black man taking a drink at a segregated water fountain, or Jackie Kennedy fighting back tears at JFK's funeral. Weinstein Gallery founder Martin Weinstein called Erwitt "not only legendary, but truly the grand old man of photography."
Erwitt was born in France and spent his early years in Italy, the child of Jewish-Russian immigrants. They moved to the United States in 1939, just before the start of World War II. He went to high school in Hollywood, and got a job at a local photo studio printing images of celebrities.
He studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College and served as a photographer's assistant in the army. Before long his work came to the attention of Robert Capa, and he was invited to join the photographer's cooperative, Magnum. Soon he was being hired to take photo essays around the world.
Erwitt excels in portraits, both of people and of dogs. He adores dogs. And he's developed a few tricks along the way.
"Yeah, I have a horn that I blow sometimes, to get people to look around or dogs pick up their ears or something," he said.
Erwitt has had a prolific career — he's published more than 70 books of photographs, and he's currently working on a new series about Cuba. But he attributes much of his success to luck.
"In my case luck is absolutely essential," he said. "I would say 90 percent." Told that he was being too modest, he amended: "OK, 89."
Weinstein said that what distinguishes Erwitt from other photographers is his visual sense of humor. "He captures this moment of humor that is so hard for photographers to capture," he said. Indeed, many of Erwitt's photographs read like punchlines — whether it's a poodle on its hind legs in a crowd of people, looking like one of the gang, or a few guys dressed in tights and feathers grabbing a drink at the bar.
Weinstein also said Erwitt's work is refreshing in its lack of pretension. "It's not about art-speak, and planes and spaces and strokes and composition and all that," he said. "You make a great image that moves people — and that's what Elliott does."
Erwitt describes himself as an optimist.
"I would like people to be amused and entertained, or perhaps moved," he said. "Yeah, I'd like people to be moved in one direction or another."
Erwitt's photographs are on view at the Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis through Jan. 9.
