"Elliott's special contribution is his wit: not the decisive moment but the delighted moment is his signature: a moment when two things that seem to have no common ground are suddenly joined together for a single picture's quiet explosion."
Elliott Erwitt has been called many names over the course of his career, but the one that really kept was being called a master of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s philosophy of a “decisive moment”. The Hulett Collection is proud to present a curated selection of works from Elliott's career that have endeared viewers with 'the delighted moment'. Whether it's a boy's innocuous gaze from the back of a bicycle in Provence, France or a stolen moment from a young couple deeply in love parked off the coast of Berkeley, California, the images fill the viewer with Elliott's version of a happy life. The Delighted Moment will feature thirty-two of Elliott's best works spanning over forty years. Opening reception is Saturday, September 2 from 5:00-8:00PM and the exhibition will be on view through November 22, 2023.
His first steps into photography were born out of necessity and not passion as is the case with many others. He began working at a bakery to survive and taught himself photography so he could earn money by photographing weddings and other events. Original name, Elio Romano Erwitz, he was well known for having a keen eye that allowed him to spot absurd moments in everyday life. His photographs depicted the never-ending irony that occurs in our lives, although we would typically fail to spot it ourselves. Elliott is highly recognized as one of the best to ever dip their toes in the medium. His portfolio includes now iconic photographs of notable figures like Richard Nixon, Che Guevara and Marilyn Monroe to name a few. Every photography of his told a story through it, either by conveying a humorous effect or by simply presenting the characters – something many try to achieve but fail to execute as well as he does.
"If we know an Erwitt scene instantly, and can tell him apart at once from his comrades, it is because, in Plain English, it will seem so funny, and feels so detached--we laugh, and we are never asked to swoon too easily. Though he belongs in some broad sense to the great school of unstated, on-the-run, street photography that stretched across the world in the forties and fifties, and made New York and Paris their particular homes--and which will seem, I am confident, in the long eye of history as April-fresh and amazing, as wittily varied and richly vernacular and permanent as the work of the painters of the Quattrocento--his special contribution is his wit: not the decisive moment but the delighted moment is his signature: a moment when two things that seem to have no common ground are suddenly joined together for a single picture's quiet explosion."
- Adam Gopnik