(New York) The American Elliott Erwitt, a photographer of life, famous for his funny photos of humans and dogs as much as for memorable images of celebrities, has died at the age of 95, the Magnum agency announced on Thursday. had been one of the pillars.
“He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family,” announced on X the famous photo agency founded in 1947. According to the New York Times, he died Wednesday at his home in Manhattan, New York.
“His images have helped us understand who we are as a society and as humans, and have inspired generations of photographers despite changing trends and the industry,” Magnum president Cristina de Middel paid tribute to him.
Elliott Erwitt was known for his ability to capture unique moments in his photos, whether historical, like this moment of tension between Soviet and American leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon in 1959, or totally offbeat, like these portraits of dogs and humans placed at the same level.
“He firmly believed that photography should address the senses and emotion rather than the intellect,” underlines the Magnum agency.
Born on July 26 in Paris in 1928 to Russian parents, Elliott Erwitt grew up in Milan before emigrating to the United States in 1939 with his family. After ten years in New York, he moved to Los Angeles, took up photography and worked as a printer in a laboratory specializing in celebrity portraits.
After a meeting with the legendary photographer Robert Capa, the latter sponsored him to enter the temple of photojournalism, the Magnum agency.
In parallel with his career as a photographer, which led him to capture images of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, General de Gaulle and Che Guevara, he also directed several documentaries and published more than twenty books.
