Elliott Erwitt, the French-born photographer who joined Marilyn on location for The Seven Year Itch and The Misfits, has died. Here in the UK, the news made the front page of today’s Guardian.
“Elliott Erwitt, the photographer of American life, political history, starlets and humour, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan, his daughter Sasha confirmed to the New York Times. He was 95.
Over a remarkably varied, peripatetic career spanning more than 70 years, Erwitt captured numerous famous images, ranging from the sombre (Jacqueline Kennedy clutching the flag from her husband’s coffin at his funeral) to the glamourous (Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich) to the absurd (a glowing Coca-Cola machine amid a display of missiles in Alabama).
Originally a photojournalist, Erwitt published more than 20 books during his lifetime and starred in numerous solo exhibitions … He is also known for his many witty photographs of dogs, often from their perspective and distinct from their owners … Erwitt never specialised and worked as a freelancer throughout his life, taking on assignments in fashion, politics and celebrity … Some of his more recognisable work came from exploring New York, where he lived, on the Upper West Side, for 60 years. Erwitt photographed the city with a sense of adventure and spontaneity, living by his famous adage: ‘The best things happen when you just happen to be somewhere with a camera.’
Erwitt worked into his 90s, and was ever practical about his art. ‘Photography is pretty simple stuff. You just react to what you see, and take many, many pictures,’ he told The Guardian in 2020, at the age of 92 … He is survived by his six children, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.” – Adrian Horton
An online gallery includes more photos of Marilyn (see here.)
“The early life of Elliott Erwitt was marked by upheaval and conflict. His Russian Jewish parents had fled their home country after the Russian Revolution to France, where he was born in 1928. The family then headed to Milan, only to return to Paris to escape Mussolini’s regime. They eventually migrated to the US, just as the second world war began. Erwitt was drafted for military service in 1951, and served in Germany and France.
Photography, at first, provided young Erwitt the opportunity to retreat from the world. One of his first interactions with the medium as a teenager was printing headshots of actors in a commercial darkroom in Los Angeles. Later, he would photograph Hollywood’s most famous stars himself, including Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly.
Erwitt joined Magnum Photos in 1953 and served as the agency’s president during the late 1960s. He took many of the pictures that would define his time … Yet Erwitt was also searching, perhaps subconsciously, for a sense of stability, something that would speak beyond his time. Much of the pleasure of looking at Erwitt’s pictures today derives from a sense of his relentless curiosity dovetailed with an unbridled delight in humanity.” – Charlotte Jansen
And finally, Marilyn has appeared in many of Erwitt’s books…
You can read more about Elliott Erwitt here and at The Marilyn Archive
UPDATE: Reporters Without Borders has dedicated the latest edition of its magazine series, RSF: 100 Photos for Freedom of the Press (#74) to Elliott Erwitt…
And the touring exhibition, Elliott Erwitt: A Retrospective, is now on display at La Sucrière in Lyon until March 17, 2024.
The Marilyn Report 
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