Portrait of Elliott Erwitt

Birthday profile

Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt, French-American photographer and director (died 2023)

Born
July 26, 1928
Died
November 30, 2023
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1928

About Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt (born Elio Romano Erwitz, July 26, 1928 – November 29, 2023) was a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. He was a member of Magnum Photos since 1953. == Early life == Elliott Erwitt was born in Paris, France, on July 26, 1928, to Jewish-Russian immigrant parents, Eugenia and Boris Erwitz, who soon moved to Italy. In 1939, when he was 10 years old, his family migrated to the United States. He studied photography and filmmaking at Los Angeles City College and the New School for Social Research. In 1951, he was drafted into the Army. He was discharged in 1953. == Photography career == Erwitt served as a photographer's assistant in the 1950s in the United States Army while stationed in France and Germany. After moving to New York in 1948, he met the photographers Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. Stryker, the former Director of the Farm Security Administration's photography department, hired Erwitt to work on a photography project for the Standard Oil Company.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Elliott Erwitt was born

Elliott Erwitt was born in 1928. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1928

  • #1 song"Makin' Whoopee" – Eddie Cantor
  • Top movieSteamboat Willie (first Mickey Mouse)
  • Best-selling bookLady Chatterley's Lover – D.H. Lawrence

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentKnute Rockne's "Win one for the Gipper" speech
  • Top headlineHerbert Hoover elected president
  • Technology milestonePenicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming
  • Defining fadMickey Mouse mania
  • Notable inventionSliced bread
  • World population2.07 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population120.5M

1928 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Elliott Erwitt's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19282026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,200$435,000
Average income$3,800$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population120.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.