Photographer Elliott Erwitt has been making wry observations about people (and dogs) with his pictures for decades. Last week, he spent three days in Washington covering the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the surrounding spectacle for Newsweek, which published his work in an online slide show. PDN spoke to Erwitt to get his impressions of the event. Excerpts:
 
PDN: What was your strategy for covering the inauguration?
 
EE: Stay warm, I guess, was my main plan. I sort of failed.
 
PDN: You were there a couple of days in a couple of different places. What were you looking for?
 
EE: Specifically, I had a spot on one of the stands for the actual inauguration, and then I had an entrance to one of the balls. Those were the only official things. The rest was just walking around, taking pictures of people and atmosphere.
 
PDN: What did you think?
 
EE: I have a number of thoughts. The event, of course, was extraordinary. Great emotion, in spite of the screw-up of the police and the difficulties of getting around, and the bitter cold. There were a lot of things that were not pleasant, but the event itself was extraordinary and I was certainly pleased to be there to witness it.
 
I almost thought whoever organized the traffic and everything was trying to piss people off so they wouldn’t like Obama so much. But I don’t think they succeeded.
 
PDN: It didn’t put people in a bad mood?
 
EE: That was the amazing thing. Personally, I had to show up in my stand by 5 o’clock. That means standing in one small spot from five in the morning until 11:30 when the stuff started, plus another hour and a half for the actual event. So it’s almost eight hours in the freezing cold. It was not a pleasant way to spend time. But then again, everybody had the same problem. It wasn’t just me. I guess it couldn’t be helped because of security concerns.
 


PDN: Did it seem like this was in some way different from other inaugurations?
 
EE: I will tell you this. Apart from the discomfort and everything, at the actual moment of the ceremony, you could not help but be absolutely touched. It was an emotional moment. And I’m sure it was the same for everyone, even though they might have been bitching at this point. It was worth it.
 
PDN: You have a picture at one of the balls that looks like it has at least a hundred people holding up cameras to take pictures. What do you think about that?
 
EE: Everybody and their uncle has a camera. Everybody’s taking pictures. Even on the stand during the inauguration, people were taking pictures. It’s really extraordinary. No event goes uncovered.
 
PDN: There’s a lot of ways to read that development. Do you think that’s a positive thing, or do you think people maybe ought to live the moment a little more, and spend less time documenting it?
 
EE: I think there’s a bit more than necessary of people playing with their little instruments, but I don’t know. With regard to the event, you can’t help that. You just want to know that you were there. It’s kind of proof that you exist almost. So from that point of view I think it’s fine.
 
PDN: You have a picture, too, of a burlesque dancer shot a few days before. How did you end up there?
 
EE: It was an unofficial ball. It was a burlesque ball. He did not show up there, Obama. I’m sure it’s because it was the day before. Otherwise he certainly would have been there.
 
PDN: Anything else you’d like to add about being in Washington that day?
 
EE: Don’t eat in the railway station. Especially don’t have the bison burger.
 
PDN: It sounds like you had a tough trip. Cold, hard to get around, bad food.
 
EE: Yeah, but all of it worth it.