New York City, 1946
Elliott Erwitt is one of my favorite photographers, and not just because dogs frequently appear in his work. I think there's something about his outsider roots, he was born in Paris to Russian parents and emigrated to America in 1939, that allows him to capture the details of daily life and distill a sense of time and place into one image. That, and his street level perspective of 1970's New York mirrors my own street level memories of "the city" during that era before Disney owned Times Square and the Gap set up shop on every street corner.
London, England, 1966
Philadelphians have a wonderful opportunity to see more that 60 Erwitt dog images at the James A. Michner Art Museum's show, Elliott Erwitt: Dog Dogs , starting April 26 and running until August 31, 2008. For the rest of us, Erwitt's beautifully designed website is great place to lose yourself in his exquisite photos spanning five decades, and his book, Dog Dogs,
Ballycotton,
Ireland, 1968
New York City, 1974
New York City, 1973
Paris, France, 1989
On a side note, I found this great photography blog while searching for Erwitt dogs, Photo Of The Day. Very cool.
Those chihuahua photos kill me!
Posted by: WendyB | April 24, 2008 at 08:03 AM
ah! so glad you blogged about this today moira! I just recently discovered elliot erwitt -- bought a wonderful book of his for only $9.99! his photos are AMAZING and i love that they're from all over the world and from all decades.
Posted by: Grace | April 24, 2008 at 12:18 PM
ah! so glad you blogged about this today moira! I just recently discovered elliot erwitt -- bought a wonderful book of his for only $9.99! his photos are AMAZING and i love that they're from all over the world and from all decades.
Posted by: Grace | April 24, 2008 at 12:24 PM
I want those shoes from the first photo.
Posted by: Regan | April 25, 2008 at 08:49 AM
Great post. Love that wallpaper behind the bulldog!
Posted by: rebecca | April 25, 2008 at 01:24 PM
Wendy -- me too!
Grace -- I only discovered Erwitt last year by doing this blog. His name kept popping up and I fell in love with his work -- all of it, but especially the dogs.
Regan -- you're so retro chic :)
Rebecca -- the London Bulldog reminds me of Winston Churchill and the wallpaper is probably David Hicks. Check out his designs here...
http://www.dh1970.com/wallpaper.htm
Posted by: Moira | April 26, 2008 at 08:02 AM