Born in 1928 to Russian Jewish parents in Paris, legendary photographer Elliott Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan. His family moved back to Paris in 1938, and immigrated to New York the following year. In 1941, they moved again, this time to Los Angeles; and, Erwitt's interest in photography began while he was a teenager living in Hollywood. He attended Hollywood High School and began working in a commercial darkroom in 1944 while still in school. In 1948 Erwitt moved to back to New York, where he met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa, and Roy Stryker. He spent another year traveling in Italy and France as a professional photographer. Drafted into the army in 1951, Erwitt continued to take photographs while stationed in Germany and France.
