s ▁Cooper ▁Union ▁School ▁of ▁Art , ▁El k ort ▁joined ▁the ▁New ▁York ▁Ph oto ▁League , ▁an ▁organization ▁of ▁photograph ers ▁that ▁served ▁as ▁the ▁ep ic enter ▁of ▁the ▁document ary ▁movement ▁in ▁American ▁phot ography . ▁▁ ▁There ▁he ▁studied ▁under ▁master s ▁like ▁Paul ▁Str and , ▁A aron ▁S isk ind , ▁Sid ▁G ross man , ▁Lou ▁St ou men , ▁Im ogen ▁C unning ham , ▁We eg ee ▁and ▁many ▁other ▁l umin aries , ▁learning ▁to ▁become ▁ade pt ▁at ▁what ▁he ▁refers ▁to ▁as ▁‘ ste alth ▁phot ography ’ . ▁With ▁a ▁more ▁ref ined ▁Rolle if lex ▁tw in - l ens ▁ref lex ▁camera ▁stra pped ▁around ▁his ▁neck , ▁he ▁would ▁ro am ▁the ▁streets ▁pe ering ▁down ▁into ▁the ▁ 2 × 2 ▁in ch ▁ground ▁glass . ▁He ▁developed ▁the ▁skill ▁of ▁walking ▁right ▁up ▁to ▁a ▁person ▁and ▁taking ▁their ▁photo ▁without ▁them ▁even ▁real izing ▁it . ▁His ▁goal ▁was ▁to ▁capture ▁this ▁post - war ▁period ' s ▁general ▁optim ism ▁and ▁innoc ence . ▁ ▁During ▁this ▁period ▁he ▁worked ▁at ▁the ▁Wild en stein ▁& ▁Company ▁Gallery ▁and ▁later , ▁the ▁Stephen ▁Michael ▁Studio ▁in ▁Manh attan ▁where ▁he ▁further ▁en hanced ▁his ▁phot ographic ▁knowledge ▁and ▁technique . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 4 8 , ▁El k ort ▁showed ▁his ▁pictures ▁of ▁Has id ic ▁Jewish ▁boys ▁playing ▁in ▁the ▁streets ▁to ▁Edward ▁Ste ichen , ▁who ▁was ▁cur