Elliot Erwitt

[CMoore]

Personal Exposures ---

A few things strike me about this book

1. Some of the pictures i like.....like with a lot of street photography...because the simple passing of time is interesting. Fascinating how even the most mundane can become enthralling....
A certain band of cigarettes
An iconic sign or logo from days gone by
Fashions of the past.....the ubiquitous mini-skirt
Car styling
Men in hats and women and girls in gloves
Etc etc etc

2, Another aspect is his humor. Not sure if some of his photos were staged, i would think so, but that does not make them any less fun to look at.

3. He gives a location and date for each photo. This guy traveled A LOT. He shot all over the globe for many decades.

 

[Pieter12]

I went to a presentation he made a few years ago. Although he did not mention anything about staging or setting up any of his shots, some--like the dogs at sidewalk level--could have been. Unless he just got down there and waited for the right dog and or person to pass by...he has shot quite a few dogs.

 

[Nitroplait]

I think you can find some contact sheets of his on the Magnum site.
I recall having seen at least one sheet where he had used most of a (120) film on one of the amusing "human and dog legs" photos. It was obviously not a quick shot grabbed in passing. He most likely asked the woman to stop and let him spend some time photographing her feet(!).

As much as I love his amusing photos, I find the more serious work much better. I recently bought "Pittsburgh 1950" which is photos he did when he was only 22 years old - there are some really good photographs in there.
Found Not Lost is also a nice recent book that gives a slightly fresh view on work we haven't seen a million times.

BTW. Both books are available in special editions with original prints from Gost books in the UK, in case you want to get a silver gelatine print at a not too exorbitant price while the old master is still alive.

 

[halfaman]

1. Some of the pictures i like.....like with a lot of street photography...because the simple passing of time is interesting. Fascinating how even the most mundane can become enthralling....
A certain band of cigarettes
An iconic sign or logo from days gone by
Fashions of the past.....the ubiquitous mini-skirt
Car styling
Men in hats and women and girls in gloves
Etc etc etc

Photograhpy (and many other human expressions) has an intrinsic documentary value of the era it was made, even the author didn't intend to do it.