“The whole point of taking pictures is that you don’t have to explain things with words”
~ Elliott Erwitt
(1928-2023)
“In the grand tradition of twentieth century photography there are many great image makers. But few were so skilled as Elliott Erwitt when it came to gently capturing the poignant absurdities and paradoxes of the human condition”
~ Graydon Carter and Nathan King
Foreword to the new book “Elliott Erwitt : Last Laughs”
I called Elliott this morning to chat but he didn’t answer.. and then I remembered he died in New York in November 2023 at the age of 95 years old. I knew this intellectually of course but there are some people you meet in life whose influence on you is eternal and you can’t ever imagine they are not around. Their passings are just a slight, temporary. inconvenience. Henri Cartier Bresson, Martine Franck, Willy Ronis, Robert Dosineau, Edouard Boubat, Louis Stettner, Ruth Bernhard, Paul Caponigro, George Tice and recently Sebastiao Salgado to mention just a few. I think the world now needs Elliott more than ever, if for no other reason that he gives you some hope and fills you with some conviction that this too will pass.
