Celebrated US photographer Elliott Erwitt dead at 95

NEW YORK

U.S. photographer Elliott Erwitt, renowned for capturing the lighter side of his subjects, their canine companions and celebrities, has died aged 95, the Magnum agency where he was a mainstay said on Nov. 30.

"He died peacefully at home surrounded by family," the storied agency, founded in 1947, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The New York Times reported that he passed away in New York on Nov. 29.

"His images have helped build our general understanding of who we are as a society and as humans and have inspired generations of photographers despite the changes in the industry and trends," said Magnum Photos president Cristina de Middel.

Erwitt was widely recognized for capturing unique moments in his images, including historic events such as the famous 1959 encounter between then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon, then the U.S. vice president.

Alongside such milestone images, Erwitt had a keen eye for the quirky and offbeat, giving dogs and their owners parity.

"It was Erwitt's firm belief that photography should speak to the senses and emotions rather than intellect," Magnum added.

[HH] Pillar of Magnum agency

Born on July 26, 1928, in Paris to Russian parents, Erwitt grew up in Milan before emigrating in 1939 to the U.S. with his family just before World War II broke out.

After 10 years in New York he moved to Los Angeles, where he started to learn photography. He was taken on as a printer in a laboratory specializing in portraits of stars.

Erwitt was conscripted to the army in 1951 as an assistant photographer and continued working for several publications while stationed in New Jersey, Germany and France.

After his military service in 1953 one of his mentors, renowned photojournalist Robert Capa, recruited him to Magnum.

Erwitt would combine the abilities of its two founders -- French humanist photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and his "decisive moment", and Capa's sense of history.

"Erwitt became known for benevolent irony, and for a humanistic sensibility traditional to the spirit of Magnum," the agency said on its website.

He toured the world several times. It was the golden age of illustrated magazines and he contributed to Collier's, Look, LIFE and Holiday.

Some of his many legendary snapshots also include Cuba's Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1964, a GI sticking out his tongue at the height of the Korean War.

Erwitt will also be remembered for a snapshot of a veiled Jackie Kennedy at her husband's JFK's funeral, a tender private conversation between Erwitt's wife and baby girl and an old Russian woman in curlers.

But arguably his best known is "California Kiss" in which in one click in 1955 he sums up the optimism offered by the U.S. West Coast.

In the 1970s, he turned to video, making documentaries on subjects ranging widely from Japan and country music to Afghan glassmakers.

In the 1980s he made 18 comedy and satirical television programs for the U.S. channel HBO.

Aged 90 in 2018 he published a book on Scotland.

Married four times and father to six children, Erwitt also owned eight dogs.

"Taking pictures of celebrities is exactly like taking pictures of non-celebrities", he said in "Elliott Erwitt's Personal Best" in 2006.

"Above all do not be intimidated. Remember that even the most exalted celebrities brush their teeth at night before going to bed."