Elliot Erwitt's exhibition at HackelBury Fine Art, London

New York City, 1948. 'I don't know what it is that gives some pictures their magic, although the test is whether it really hits you and gives you a strong emotion' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

Marilyn Monroe, photographed during shooting for Some Like It Hot (1959). 'She was nice, smart, kind of amusing, and very approachable. Not a bimbo at all' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

Paris, 1989. 'Photography is pretty simple stuff. You just react to what you see, and take many, many pictures' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

'I don't know why my shot of the train in Wyoming (1954) is so popular. I was travelling across the country from New York to Los Angeles and taking a lot of pictures' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

New York City, 1956. 'Most of these images are ones I dug up by looking through my archive, shots I passed over at the time' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

Indiana University, 1958. 'The ratio of successful shots is one in God-knows-how-many. Sometimes you'll get several in one contact sheet, and sometimes it's none for days. But as long as you go on taking pictures, you're likely to get one at some point' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

New York City, 1955. 'There's so much detail in the picture of people dancing at the engagement party of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of Monaco. You can recognise some - Noël Coward (bottom, right) and CZ Guest (top left, centre) - which is always fun. I'm sure John F Kennedy is in there somewhere, too' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London

New York City, 1984. 'Although the magazines that do these kinds of stories are long gone, the idea is as valid now as it ever was. I am still perpendicular, so I am still taking pictures' Photograph: Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos/Courtesy HackelBury Fine Art, London