Between the Sexes [Hardcover]

Elliott Erwitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 1994

From an early age on I perceived a striking difference between men and women. As I grow older, that perception deepens. So writes Elliott Erwitt, tongue slightly in cheek, about his wonderful new collection of photographs from around the world.

Children perceive the difference between the sexes at an early age and we see them here discovering it for the first time. Older people have known the difference for years and we see them savoring it. In between, Between the Sexes is a sometimes poignant, sometimes outrageous record of males and females trying (and sometimes not trying) to get along, with wildly varying results. 117 duotones

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Erwitt (On the Beach, Norton, 1991) is a seasoned photographer whose collection around the theme of males and females, love and sex becomes a book of duotones trying desperately to live up to the reputation of its creator. The widely respected Erwitt is 40 years into his trade, but he fails here to offer the reader more than a few wry smiles. His introduction describes the background to many of the photographs, which individually are sometimes quite good. Collectively, however, they compound the sense of an idea and a file of photos being stretched hard in the hopes of creating a book. This might work as a gift item for older lovers ready to give companionship or marriage a try...again. But it is not recommended for libraries.
David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., Conn.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

To the war between the sexes--grown rather bitter of late--Erwitt brings some welcome humor. At his best, Erwitt is the best humorous photographer, a master at depicting life as a series of freeze-frames from an absurd ballet. At his worst, he is corny and silly, but hey, the pleasure he gives is worth the price. This book is loosely based on the idea of couples, some shot just for this project, others culled from his work as far back as the 1950s. That Erwitt has never tired of the male-female chase is obvious in both the pictures and his introduction, in which he makes much of his thrice-married condition. Few of the 110-plus photos have been included in Erwitt's previous books, which gives this one additional appeal. Photography collections should have it, and non-photography-buff readers will enjoy it, too. Gretchen Garner

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (December 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393036766
• ISBN-13: 978-0393036763
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 10 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,717,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very mixed bag, August 11, 1998

By 

Kimmich Mathias "Matt Kimmich" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Between the Sexes (Hardcover)

It's a pity - some photos in this book are incredible. They're evocative, and they tell a story... a different story with each viewer, perhaps. They capture a moment or a mood perfectly. However, there are also run-of-the-mill pictures in it, and some are just boring. All in all, it might be worth buying the book just for the good pictures, especially if you've seen them in a review for example - but don't be too disappointed by the others.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five decades of great photography, July 29, 2001

By 

Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Between the Sexes (Hardcover)

Elliott Erwitt was born in 1928, and during his long and productive career he has proven to be a deeply humanistic photographer who is playful and flirtatious and interested in what makes the ordinary worth our attention, quirky or lovable - and therefore, worth remembering.

Despite the misleading Editorial implication that this book somehow addresses the "battle of the sexes," in fact it does no such thing. These are candid (though not unplanned) shots of men and women, men together, women together, kids together, smiling threesomes, lovers kissing, carnival scenes, nudists, swimmers, sea lions, dogs, horses, trees and plants, a Raggedy Ann and Andy, monkeys in the zoo - and even two old cars, one dark, one light (taken in 1950) that somehow all make sense. The pictures are lively, vivid, and satisfying in black and white.

While some of his subjects (children, dogs, nudists, lovers) might provoke easy sentimentality or, in other cases, voyeurism elsewhere, under Erwitt's gaze, people and animals retain dignity and depth and, often, a sense of humor. He often photographs people or animals in the act of looking at something or someone else: there is rarely just one thing happening in an Erwitt photo, no matter how simple and straightforward the shot. In addition, his subjects are wrapped up in what they are doing, and it's great fun to watch them at their lives. Erwitt contributes a thoughtful and personal introduction that is part autobiography, part artist's notes, and part theory. This is a great collection, happy but never maudlin, that is fun, interesting, and a useful and patient teacher of the art and craft of photography.