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.
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,
On a side note, I found this great photography blog while searching for Erwitt dogs, Photo Of The Day. Very cool.