“The main point is to take the photo so that there is no need to explain it in words afterwards.”
Born Elliott Romano Erwitz in Paris in 1928, from Russian parents with Jewish origins, he spent his childhood in Italy and moved to the United States in 1939 to escape racial persecution. This difficult beginning was one of his greatest fortunes: he bought his first camera for fun and discovered his love for photography.
He studies photography and cinema in United States serving the army as photographer so he could witness military operations in the twilight of World War II.
A great admirer of Henri-Cartier Bresson, in 1954 Elliott Erwitt was introduced into the Magnum Agency directly by his partner-founder Robert Capa, and after projects and official missions, he became so well known that he was able to continue with his amateur activity between walks and long car journeys, rediscovering all that is absurd, funny, paradoxical and ironic in everyday life.
Subjects, emotions, impressions. From wars to politics, from beaches to travels, from VIPs to children in whom he sees young adults, natural and spontaneous. But he has a special eye for dogs, whom he sees as a gateway to their masters’ souls, often creating comical or paradoxical situations. One thing he loved to do was to bark at them in surprise to see their face. A real joker this Elliott!
Until the 11th of June 2023, the Villa Bassi Rathgeb Museum, just a few metres from the AbanoRitz, which is PetFriendly, just to remind, it houses 154 vintage photographs of great value, rarely exhibited to the public, as well as 30 iconic photographs by Elliott Erwitt: sixty years of photographic history enriched with research audio-visual material.
Elliott’s images tell their own story. No matter the genre of the story, whether it is a comedy, a fable, a documentary or a short story… The important thing for this great photographer is to have something to tell.
Few times Italy has seen such a collection of this great photographer’s work in an exhibition. A not-to-be-missed opportunity in Abano Terme, a spa town unique for the benefits and special features of its thermal springs.
