One of Erwitt’s latest images of Cuba © Elliott Erwitt/MAGNUM PHOTOS
Erwitt’s work will be used to launch the inaugural Elliot Erwitt Havana Club 7 Fellowship, an annual award enabling a photographer to travel to Cuba to create their own body of work.
Their brief will be to take photos that capture ‘the soul of Cuba and the essence of Elliot Erwitt’s unrivalled style of photography’.
The Fellowship – which aims to celebrate the culture, history and tradition of Cuba – is run in conjunction with rum maker Havana Club which will contribute €25,000 per year to the project.
Funding will also come from a selection of images that will be sold to support the next photographer in line for the award.
Erwitt, who joined Magnum in 1953 and has served several terms as president said: ‘It is so important to document Cuba at this time because this will become their legacy, and it is inspiring that Havana Club 7 have taken the initiative in creating this opportunity.’
The new photos will be showcased alongside Erwitt’s original 1964 images, at the Unseen Photo Fair in Amsterdam from 18-20 September.
Havana Club 7 marketing manager Jens Jakobsen said: ‘We are thrilled to be collaborating on this project with Elliott as it aligns perfectly with our cultural ethos.
‘For us to be able to document the land that gave birth to our rum with a living legend and also enable others to do so in the future is just wonderful.
‘The passing on of knowledge from the rum masters to the next generation is central to our rum culture and its production, much like a master photographer passing his craft onto his apprentice, ensuring that the craft and legacy lives on.’
Erwitt’s famous subjects include Marilyn Monroe and John F Kennedy.
