Elliott Erwitt’s Poland
On the occasion of the Elliott Erwitt retrospective exhibition at the History Meeting House, this presentation revisits the photographer’s remarkable journey through Poland in 1964, undertaken on assignment for the Life World Library series.
Travelling across the country, Erwitt documented everyday life with his unmistakable blend of curiosity, humor, and compassion, capturing streets, markets, factories, villages, and fleeting moments of human connection.
The presentation will explore not only the photographs themselves, but also the editorial process behind them, comparing the selection made by the Life editorial staff for publication with the images Elliott Erwitt chose to preserve in his own picture archive. This dialogue between published narrative and personal edit offers a fascinating insight into the relationship between editorial vision and photographic authorship. More than sixty years later, these photographs remain both an invaluable historical record and a timeless reflection on the resilience, dignity, and humanity of post-war Poland.
The presentation will be followed by a conversation between Andrea Holzherr, Global Cultural Director of Magnum Photos, and the Polish photo historian Iga Niewiadomska.
Andréa Holzherr
Curator and art historian who studied at the École du Louvre and the Sorbonne in Paris. Since 2003, she has served as the Global Cultural Director and Curator at the Magnum Photos agency in Paris. She is responsible for promoting the Magnum Archive through a vast exhibition program conducted in collaboration with international museums, cultural institutions, and photography festivals. Previously, she was a curator and assistant to the director at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. She is a member of the board of directors of the Fond de Dotation Magnum Paris and a member of the German Society for Photography (DGPh).
Holzherr has curated numerous exhibitions, including Bang Bang, Tatort Kunst (Haus für Kunst Uri and CCA Palma de Mallorca, 2012), Mythos Kindheit (Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Haus für Kunst Uri, and CCA Palma de Mallorca, 2010), Elina Brotherus: The New Painting (Finnish Museum of Photography, 2006), and Stella Polaris (Paris Photo, 2006).
Her curatorial projects also include the 5th Fotofestival Mannheim–Ludwigshafen–Heidelberg in Germany (2013), Ernest Cole: House of Bondage (2023, co-curated with Anne-Marie Beckmann), and the group exhibition Magnum between Pages, in collaboration with the Hanmi Museum in Seoul (2025).
She is the author of several publications, including Close Enough (2024), Eve Arnold: Hommage (2012), The Helsinki School (2005–2011), George Rodger: Unterwegs 1940–1949 (2009), and Elina Brotherus (2005), as well as numerous contributions to specialized contemporary photography journals.