July 11, 2007
Remembering my friend John Szarkowski
Elliott Erwitt
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
Published on the Magnum Blog on July 11, 2007
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