Magnum Blog / Remembering my friend John Szarkowski

Remembering my friend John Szarkowski

John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography, died at age 81 on July 7, 2007. Elliott Erwitt remembers his friend. John Szarkowski was a wickedly intelligent funny person and a great dinner companion. And he was surely the best and clearest thinker on the subject of photography whether one agreed or not with his muses. Quite apart from his writing talents and intellectual pursuits John had a profound knowledge of apples (the sort that grow on trees) and also was an accomplished classical clarinetist. John's 29 year tenure at the Museum of Modern Art firmly established him as the worlds most important arbiter on photography and by current standards a conservative guru. Then upon retiring from his commanding position in the art world John had the great courage to go back to his own photography that he had put on hold for so many years but never abandoned where he would be vulnerable and judged by the very people that he had previously judged. As one of the many photographers who have been encouraged and supported and who have enjoyed his warm friendship I fully expect to meet him in photography heaven one day around a good dinner table with a fine bottle of Bordeaux. In the meantime I shall very much miss him. » "John Szarkowski, Curator of Photography, Dies at 81" from The New York Times » "John Szarkowski 1925 - 2007" from 5B4 » "John Szarkowski, Photographer, Curator, and Critic, Dies at 81" from Shane Lavalette

Annalisa

I said thanks to him beacuse apart all the great things he made his own, he also had the deep glance and the courage to discover and sustain Diane Arbus.
They were challenging people.

Renee

Mr. Erwitt, thank you for your very lovely orbituary for John Szarkowski. The man who "had a profound knowledge of apples". :-) I hope to read more of your thoughts in the future.

Kamaal A. Bahnasawi

Hello Elliott

I feel very sorry for the loss of your dear friend the late John Szarkowski whom I personally didn't know . But share the pain with you because I know from your writings and photo books ( I own three of them ), that you are a kind person.
God bless you.

Kamaal A. Bahnasawi
Subscriber to Magnum Blogs.

Peter

"John Szarkowski was a wickedly intelligent funny person and a great dinner companion." To me this description of the man and the photograph of the man don't seem to match. If I'd seen it without having read the biographic notes, I'd think about: expensive tweed; elbow patches and the establishment.

Martine Franck

Dear Elliott,
It is was a pleasure remembering with you all the courageous projects John had especially the introduciton of color photography at Moma with the discovery of William Eggleston and his love and knowledge of Atget. It was he who encouraged Peter Galassi to exhibit Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Early Works"
People get forgotten so quickly and as long as we keep talking about themthey will live on
Martine Franck

gustavo masias

aun recuerdo las primeras impresiones que tuve al ver la obra de este genio ,"como queria ser como él " pensé y continuo pensando....