Essay on Elliott Erwitt

(different water pipe) does not make us different as we are from the same “source”.

I feel the photo also says that as human you cannot change your origins, so it is better to accept them and to stop segregating as by doing so it is in a way discriminating itself as we all come from the same “source”. The photographer human sensitivity and sense of humor along with irony certainly stands out. It can be seen that the photographer is very committed and engaged. Picture two In my opinion this picture represents love, affection and romance. The fact that everything that is happening inside the car is being reflected in the rear view mirror sets a cozy mood.

When looking at this snapshot I can even feel that these two loving people are warm and comfortable as in a little cocoon. In fact, it seems to be colder outside as the sun set in. The idea of using the rear view mirror to see what happen inside the car is definitely fueled by the photographer’s curiosity as if someone is looking through a keyhole. It reflects the facts that humans are curious and in a constant need of knowing what others are doing. Indeed, it appears to be a very private moment which poses the question of whether this picture crossed the line or not in terms of privacy.

Picture three Under my perspective, this photograph represent spontaneity and adventure. This man jumping over the wet floor during this rainy day certainly represent spontaneity. It seems to me that it is about doing unexpected things as opposite to planned things. About

living it up and stop planning every move you will do. About replacing daily routine with unpredictable, unforeseable and unplanned things to have a dash of adventure. Nowadays, society tells us what to do, what is proper and what is not.

This picure raises my interest as beeing a revolt against conformism. Also, it is noticable that the umbrella of the couple are not fixed properly to protect them from the rain which even emphasizes the anticonformist idea I feel. This two person are just happy to be together and the rain is used as a shield to have their moment of intitmity. I think that this picture is really about enjoying youself without caring of what society believes is appropriate. It is said that “The true content of a photograph is invisible, for it derives from a play not with form but with time”.

This makes me think that the real content of a picture, which is what the photographer tried to express, is not evident to perceive unless an explanatory text is provided. In fact, I believe that our perceptions of pictures changes over time as the historical context do. In addition, our opinions are never fixed as they are influenced by our environment. Therefore, when looking at a particular picture at a given time, it is certain that our perception of it will be different in the future based on what happen between the first time and second time we saw it.

After viewing these six pictures, I consider that it is almost impossible to feel sad or depressed when looking at Elliott Erwitt work. Finally, the essay will

be finished by mentioning a quote of him that I believe perfectly represents what photography is about and how it reaches out to most people: "It's about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It's simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what's around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.