Famous Photographers - Part 8 - Alfred Eisenstaedt
Famous Photographers - Part 8 - Alfred Eisenstaedt
Alfred Eisenstaedt was one of LIFE Magazine's great photographers. His photos graced many covers of that magazine, including one of America's most iconic photos, the one of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the ending of WWII. His photography was eclectic, ranging from portraits to photojournalism to everyday life. He lived in Germany before the war, and took photos of Nazis when working for an American publisher, but, as a Jew, wisely decided to leave Germany before the war. Although I've seen a photo of him brandishing a Rollieflex, his chosen camera to use was a 35mm Leica rangefinder camera (the type seen in his photo above), and having used a borrowed one in Spain and Morocco myself, I can agree with his preference for using the Cadillac of cameras (the Rolls Royce of Cameras is the Hasselblad but it's much heftier to carry around ).
From Wikipedia:
Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in pre-World War II Germany and after moving to the U.S. achieved prominence as a staff photographer for Life Magazine, which featured more than 90 of his pictures on its covers with over 2,500 photo stories published.
Among his most famous cover photographs was V-J Day in Times Square, taken during the V-J Day celebration in New York City, showing "an exuberant American sailor kissing a nurse in a dancel-ike dip [that] summed up the euphoria many Americans felt as the war came to a close." Eisenstaedt was "renowned for his ability to capture memorable images of important people in the news, including statesmen, movie stars and artists" and for his candid photographs, taken with a small 35mm Leica camera and typically with only natural lighting.
Below are 40 of his photographs chosen by me for this photo-essay.
1. Central Park after a snowstorm. NYC, 1959
2. First lesson at a Berlin ballet school.
3. Ice skating waiter, St. Moritz. 1937. One of his most notable photos.
4. La Scala, Milan, Italy, 1938
5. Winston Churchill, Liverpool, England, 1951
6. Drum Major and children, University of Michigan, 1951
7. Evergreen trees at -51 F, Mt. Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
8. Little boy selling Coca-Cola at roadside, Atlanta, Georgia, 1936
9. Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer at Princeton. Because of those two, the atom bomb was created.
10. Children at a puppet theatre, Paris, France, 1963
11. An American Block, Hamilton, Ohio, 1943
12. Trees in snow, St. Moritz, 1947
13. Robert Frost, Ripton, Vermont, 1955
14. V-J Day in Times Square, August 14, 1945. Probably his most iconic photo.
15. Waiters watching Sonya Henie skate, St. Moritz, 1932
16. Robert Kennedy, Democratic Convention, 1960
17. Farewell to servicemen, Clock at Pennsylvania Station, NYC, 1943
18. President John F. Kennedy with his wife Jacqueline and VP Lyndon B. Johnson at Inaugural Celebration, Mayflower Hotel, Washington D.C., 1961. I can recall JFK introducing himself with these words at a welcoming dinner in Paris, where his wife was a sensation: "I'm the man who's accompanying Jacqueline Kennedy in Paris."
19. Sofia Loren, 1964. He took many photos of her during a filming that are also considered some of his most notable photos.
20. The first meeting of Mussolini and Hitler, Venice, 1934
21. Mother and Child in Hiroshima, 4 months after the bomb.
22. Repairing the hull of the Graf Zeppelin during its flight over the Atlantic, 1934
23. Lesson at La Scala's ballet school, Milan, Italy, 1934
24. Girl in surf, Jones Beach, NY, 1951
25. Opera de Paris Ballet School, 1930
26. Boy with dried spaghetti, Naples, Italy, 1934
27. Art class in Volendam, Netherlands, 1932
28. Gondolas, Venice, Italy, 1947
29. Leonard Bernstein conducting, Carnegie Hall, NYC, 1960
30. Counting Pearls in the Mikimoto Cultured Pearl Factory, Japan, 1946
31. School of American Ballet, 1936
32. Ernest Hemingway, Cojmar Harbor, Cuba, 1952
33. Marilyn Munroe, 1953 (Did I REALLY have to identify her?)
34. People walking followed by their shadows (One of my favourite of his photos. BotO)
35. Man in front of waterfall (Another of my favourites, BotO)
36. Groucho
37. Little girl scared of Santa Claus. I wonder if she will be joining the present trend and accusing him of molesting her.
38. Perhaps this photo made an impression on me many years ago, because for some reason I remember it.
39. Looking up.
40. Times Square, V-J Day, August 14, 1945
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I think this photo of Alfred Eisenstaedt makes him look as if he works for the "family" in "The Godfather"
What kind of puppet show were those kids being shown?
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I'd thought about tracking down that iconic VJ Day kiss as an example of a time when one unexpected kiss wouldn't cost someone their job.
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Another grand adventure Buzz, thanks. These photo essays are really entertaining.
These are great! I'll have to come back tomorrow and look at them again. Some of these I have seen and then some I haven't seen, but you have a great collection in this batch!