11
B+W
Paris, France, 1952.H
is early life, however, was not easy.
Born Elio Romano Ervitz in Paris
in 1928 to Russian parents, he was
brought up and began his
education in Italy. It was there that his
parents separated and he lived with his
father, seeing his mother at weekends.
When the Second World War broke out,
and the rise of fascism became evident,
the whole family fled to France and then
to the USA, settling in New York where
he changed his name to Elliott Erwittand rapidly learned to speak English.
It was just a few years later in 1941 that
his father, struggling to earn a living as a
travelling salesman, uprooted him onceagain and took him to California where
they settled in a modest house in
Hollywood. It was here that Elliott
began taking photographs.
Just a few years later Elliott’s father, in
financial difficulties, took off to New
Orleans, leaving his 16-year-old son to fend
for himself. Letting out rooms in the house,
Elliott began taking portraits of the local
residents and earned a meagre living from
photographing friends and neighbours.
In 1949 he headed for New York‘His seemingly eff ortless
photography is the result of
expert skill and a unique
and unerring eye.’
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