Jonas Bendiksen
‘Elliott has always been known as a master of humour. Being funny in photography is actually much more difficult than it seems on the surface, and it is so easy to just end up making fun of someone instead of actually applying any comedic element yourself. This is the delicate balancing act that Elliott somehow intuitively mastered, and it is the reason that he is so extremely popular with all generations of photography lovers.
‘I discovered Elliott Erwitt’s images almost at the same time as I discovered photography, in books and magazines in my local library in the small town where I grew up in Norway. I was immediately both amused and inspired by him. But Elliott’s photography is about so much more than visual jokes. For me the most fascinating part of his work is where the eerie and the comedic rub up against each other. the images that can be seen as both having a comedic element, but also having these other layers or associations that make me a bit uneasy in my seat. I am drawn to the moments where he sees something funny in something that is actually threatening, or he makes light of some official person that takes their office too seriously.
‘This image from the procession during the holy week in Seville in 1960 touches upon this tension for me. This is a serious religious procession, where people march and pay penitence to their sins. Needless to say, there is also a strong element of absurdity in the whole situation, with the pointed hoods and ghost-like appearance of the participants. They are both clownlike and slightly ominous at the same time. Their hoods and robes of course have other associations in the USA, where Erwitt is from.
‘Erwitt might be the master of photographic jokes, but he generally has stayed away from one-liners. There are so often all these layers that one can plough through, and that is why his images last decade after decade.’
Jonas Bendiksen is a Norwegian photographer and photojournalist. He became a full member of Magnum in 2008. jonasbendiksen.com.