LOTS of big pockets.

When you go out into the field with your camera, wear a jacket with big pockets, LOTS of big pockets.

Yet another great tip from the master of amateur snapshooting :) And I'm not trying to be ironic- Erwitt calls himself 'an amateur' and ' a hobbyist', on the other hand beeing considered, basically by everyone but himself, a Master of 20th century Black & White photography. His whole being abounds with irony and wit, and it shows in his images too. Because if Erwitt wasn't ironic and witty, he wouldn't be able to wait for the 'indecisive moment' to capture the great puns as He many a time did.

Like here:

Las Vegas, Nevada 1954

    The super serious granny in a glittery casino pulling on a one-armed-bandit's gun...Doesn't it look like she's effortlessly disarming this cowboy who threatens to shoot her (and 'push' sign on the glass door, with an arrow pointing at granny's head, is implying just that)??

Well- it doeas to me anyway and it makes me grin everytime.

Or here:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1949

    What do you feel when You look at this image? I can feel the tension on the bow and then hear the arrow swoosh across the halls and reach the distant figure. Then he collapses- end of story- period.

    It's an excellently framed and timed photograph in my opinion, balance and perspective are flawless - Erwitt really has an EYE for these things. 

That's why I like to leaf through his books - they're memorable but not in a dramatic way -they do not shock like most 21st century photographs do. It's just about the wit in them- from a really great, great photographer. 

      

'I'll always be an amateur photographer' Elliot Erwitt

The Guardian, Profile: Elliott Erwitt

  It's a great piece of writing focused on Elliott Erwitt's remarkable life and work. There is everything there - his biography ( which reads almost like a novel and not like artist's bio at all), short reviews of books and exhibitions, and most interesting- comments made by friends and artists, among them even Henri Cartier- Bresson is quoted! Interview with the artist himself seems to be an issue though, as the author of article explains:

Certainly, when it comes to discussing his own work, Erwitt's tight-lipped nature is apparent: "If you want to understand the art of Elliott Erwitt, the last person to turn to is Elliott Erwitt," says writer and friend Wilfred Sheed. "Not that he can't talk, it's just that like Harpo he won't - at least about the mysteries of creation. In short the master of the non-photograph is also a master of the non-interview." 

P.S. And that seems to be true, as I haven't found too many interviews indeed....

P.S.2  On my wishlist for christmas -> Personal Best by Elliott Erwitt <- Who wants to donate? ;P

Elliott Erwitt – Lifetime Achievement Award 2007

In this 5 min. video interview E. Erwitt talks about his ways of work and approach towards photographing as well as photographs. It is really interesting to hear what one of the 20th century Master of Photography thinks about these subjects.

E. Erwitt is a type of man who knows what he's doing and it really comes across in my opinion, even in those few minutes. What is said about manipulating images in the digital era is especially of interest for me, as I often use 'the digital darkroom'. I agree with Erwitt's  opinion that manipulated images should be marked somehow. Even a kitemark as recently psychiatrists in Great Britain wanted to identify airbrushed ads ( www.campaignlive.com), or what National Union of Journalists ( www.londonfreelance.org)
 started a campaign on in 1996. 

It has gone out of hand in the search for best 'scoop' by journalists and documentarists, and so even Reuters Agency has a meticulous guide nowadays outlining what is acceptable within their photographers' images. And so we read in their Handbook of Journalism:

Allowed:

• Cropping
• Adjustment of Levels to histogram limits
• Minor colour correction
• Sharpening at 300%, 0.3, 0
• Careful use of lasso tool
• Subtle use of burn tool
• Adjustment of highlights and shadows
• Eye dropper to check/set gray

Not Allowed:

• Additions or deletions to image
• Cloning & Healing tool (except dust)
• Airbrush, brush, paint
• Selective area sharpening
• Excessive lightening/darkening
• Excessive colour tone change
• Auto levels
• Blurring
• Eraser tool
• Quick Mask
• In-camera sharpening
• In-camera saturation styles

(read in more detail here- Handbook of Journalism) 

These rules of course apply to proffesional journalists' work only, however I believe they are good guidelines for all photographers - a reminder of how not to get overly photoshopped.

Still - Photoshop, and all alikes, are truly useful programs, and I don't condemn using them - It's just about ethics and admitting to manipulation...

.....I'm sorry, but I'll have to close it at that- I need to get some sleep now ;) Hopefully I managed to get someone to think about it. If not- I just wasted 2 hours of sleep for needless rant and reasearch....Good night and good luck!

links:

 'If you Mac it, mark it!'- http://media.gn.apc.org/j-manip.html 

 'Psychiatrists call for mark to identify airbrushed ads'- http://www.campaignlive.com/news/985668/Psychiatrists-call-mark-identify-airbrushed-ads/

Decisive Moment

I'm pretty sure that Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs were an inspiration for quite a few photographers, and among those is also Elliott Erwitt. It's no surprise then that Erwitt's photos remind sometimes those of Bresson's. 

For example Erwitt's: 

 FRANCE. Paris. 1989. Eiffel tower 100th anniversary.

And 57 years earlier Cartier-Bresson's :

FRANCE. Paris. Place de l'Europe. Gare Saint Lazare. 1932.

For me the top image looks like an improved version of the lower one. Yet still both impress and commit to memory on their own terms. The 1932 shot has a different 'atmosphere'- it's totally spontaneous shot in a [seemingly] random place, whereas later one, although looks like taken on spur of a [lucky] moment, is actually staged- there is another shot where the man jumps from right to left...

Still- I like them all!