Elliott Erwitt

Born in 1928 to Russian Jewish parents in Paris, legendary photographer Elliott Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan. His family moved back to Paris in 1938, and immigrated to New York the following year. In 1941, they moved again, this time to Los Angeles; and, Erwitt's interest in photography began while he was a teenager living in Hollywood. He attended Hollywood High School and began working in a commercial darkroom in 1944 while still in school. In 1948 Erwitt moved to back to New York, where he met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa, and Roy Stryker. He spent another year traveling in Italy and France as a professional photographer. Drafted into the army in 1951, Erwitt continued to take photographs while stationed in Germany and France. Robert Capa invited Erwitt to join Magnum Photos in 1953. A member of the prestigious agency ever since, Erwitt has functioned as its president for three terms beginning in 1968. In teh 1970s, Erwitt tried his hand at filmmaking. His documentaries have included: BEAUTY KNOWS NO PAIN (1971), RED WHITE AND BLUEGRASS (1973), which was made with the assistance of an American Film Institute grant, and the prize winning GLASS MAKERS OF HERAT (1977). Erwitt has also produced seventeen comedy and satire specials for Home Box Office. Erwitt has been creating books, essays, illustrations, and ads regularly featured in publications around the world for more than forty years. Throughout his illustrious career, Eritt has captured everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Ronald Reagan on camera. And his historically grounded black-and-white prints are now legendary and have been exhibited in some of the most prestigious museums and galleries around the world including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, Zurich's Kunsthaus and Cologne's Photokina. At present, Elliott Erwitt is editing his archive and still working for various advertising and magazine clients. Based in New York City, Elliott Erwitt likes to travel obsessively. He also likes children and dogs.