Elliott Erwitt in Black and White

Such are the photographs of Elliott Erwitt. Whether it was capturing a couple kissing at sunset at a Malibu beach, Jacqueline Kennedy at the funeral of her slain husband, behind the scenes images of the cast of the "Misfits," a bird on a lamp post appearing grander than the airplane in the distance, or a chapeau'd pooch at the feet of her walker, Che Guevera grinning like Groucho Marx with a cigar, his "stolen" black and white images seize a moment that is very human, and in their humanness, something off, absurd.

The appropriately titled "Personal Best" retrospective of this master opened Tuesday night at the Musée Europeenne de la Photographie here in Paris. It was a homecoming of sorts for the 81-year-old artist, who was born of Russian parents here. The family moved to the U.S. when he was 10, and he attended Hollywood High, where he began his life's work, assisting in the movie and photography studios in the area. He has lived in New York forever, and, according to his associate who we chatted with during the opening, continues to personally print all his work.
It was incredible to see him, and to stand in front of so many of this photographs, some very familiar, some not so (including a smaller image of the landmark Western Exterminator Co. sign on Temple near our home in Silverlake, which he shot back in the 1950s. A surprise sight that evening, indeed!)
There's a humility to his work, to his view of life through the lens, and to his persona in life, a journey man with a beat-up Leica M3.
The show runs through April 4.