Colour images of Marilyn filming the ‘subway grate scene’ from The Seven Year Itch are featured in Elliott Erwitt: Retrospective, now open at the DSH Gallery in the History Meeting House in Warsaw, Poland until September 20.
“American photographer, photojournalist, and filmmaker. A leading figure at the Magnum agency, he is considered one of the most prominent representatives of humanist photography … During the 1950s and 1960s, his photographs were published in leading American magazines. In the late 1960s, he served as president of Magnum for three years.
ELLIOTT ERWITT. RETROSPECTIVE is an event not only for photography enthusiasts and connoisseurs. The artist’s photographs presented in the exhibition exemplify the blend of wit, absurdity, and elegance—a perspective characteristic of his work. In this way, the curators draw attention to the bright side of human nature, invoking the beauty of ordinary moments that usually slip away under the weight of everyday life.
‘Elliott Erwitt was a versatile artist whose photographs captured everyday life, important moments in history, ordinary people, show business and political figures, and… dogs. His photography is an extraordinary record of time and place. A unique, beautiful historical source, thought-provoking and at the same time enjoyable,’ emphasises exhibition co-curator Katarzyna Puchalska.
‘The influence Erwitt’s work had on the canon of 20th-century photography cannot be overstated,’ adds co-curator Beata Łyżwa-Sokół. ‘Eliott Erwitt wasn’t afraid of the world, perhaps because—as the photographs show—he was captivated by it. He sought beauty and truth in people, and being honest with them, he portrayed them with a degree of seriousness, yet a degree of humour.'”
First captured on location in New York one September night in 1954, these photos were first published in Elliott Erwitt’s Kolor (2013), now reissued by ACC Art Books – with a colour shot from The Misfits on the cover, and more inside. (It appears to be a shorter length, and may be presented differently.)
“The new edition of Elliott Erwitt’s acclaimed volume Kolor showcases a fresh compilation of the legendary photographer’s colour images. Carefully curated from an archive of nearly half a million Kodachrome slides, the 304 pages reveal a vibrant kaleidoscope of photographs—some of them over 70 years old—whose colours have been remarkably preserved. The subjects span a diverse range, from world leaders to playful showgirls, bustling marketplaces to military camps, and from Las Vegas to Venice—all imbued with Erwitt’s signature dry wit and keen sensitivity. An essential addition to any Elliott Erwitt collection.”
The Marilyn Report 