Elliott Erwitt

*July 26, 1928, Paris, France

As a child of Russian immigrants, Elliott Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan until the family returned to Paris for a short time and emigrated to the USA in 1939.

Erwitt worked for a long time in a photo lab, before he started shooting and experimenting at Los Angeles City College. It was not long before the young teenager moved to New York in 1948. There he met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker, who later inspired him greatly. After traveling through France and Italy for a while with his Rolleiflex and returning to New York, he began to work professionally as a photographer. In 1951 he was drafted into the army, but was not allowed to take photographs. After being released two years later, Capa offered him a place in the Magnum photo agency. Since then, he has been a member of the presidency.

Erwitt worked as an independent photographer for magazines such as Collier's, Look and Life and is still active today. In addition to his photographic work, he is ambitious in the field of documentary films.

In addition to numerous publications and journalistic essays, he presents his photographs in many museums and galleries, among others - The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Erwitt's works include immortal photographs of the 20th century. He is known for his humorous and ironic motifs, which he always depicts in the sense of the tradition of Magnum Photos.