Elliott Erwitt at Jackson Fine Art

By Valheria Rocha, Contributor

Thursday, Jan. 14, I attended “Regarding Women,” an incredible show at Jackson Fine Art featuring the work of renowned photo master, Elliott Erwitt. Erwitt was born in Paris but spent most of his life in the United States where he studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College. He is most known for his documentary photography that is reminiscent of Cartier-Bresson but with a comical twist. I spoke with John Murphy, one of the gallery assistants, who told me Erwitt’s “shooting was very casual; you’d think these images were really constructed, but mostly he just happened to look up, saw a great shot, and photographed it”. There was a great turnout for the show which had Erwitt signing his books and taking pictures with guests. I got a chance to meet him and asked him how he feels about digital photography, having shot with film all is life. He responded, “I feel good about it!” It was getting a bit crowded so that was all the time I had to speak with him. Right after, I finished touring the exhibit, which left me nothing short of satisfied. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his pictures of Marilyn Monroe because they were spontaneous and beautiful. The images show the most spontaneous and unique moments that really take the images from being ‘snapshots’ to ‘photographs’. This is truly, not a show to miss.
More information can be found at the Jackson Fine Art website.