Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898 – 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for Life Magazine after moving to the U.S. Life featured more than 90 of his pictures on its covers, and more than 2,500 of his photo stories were 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 American sailor George Mendonsa kissing nurse Greta Zimmer Friedman in a "dancelike dip" which "summed up the euphoria many Americans felt as the war came to a close", in the words of his obituary. He was "renowned for his ability to capture memorable images of important people in the news" and for his candid photographs taken with a small 35mm Leica camera, typically with natural lighting.
Eisenstaedt became a full-time photographer in 1929 when he was hired by the Associated Press office in Germany, and within a year he was described as a "photographer extraordinaire." He also worked for Illustrierte Zeitung, published by Ullstein Verlag, then the world's largest publishing house. Four years later he photographed the famous first meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy.
In 1935, Fascist Italy's impending invasion of Ethiopia led to a burst of international interest in Ethiopia. While working for Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Alfred took over 3,500 photographs in Ethiopia, before emigrating to the United States, where he joined Life magazine, but returned in the following year to Ethiopia to continue his photography.
Eisenstaedt's family was Jewish. Oppression in Hitler's Nazi Germany caused them to emigrate to the U.S. They arrived in 1935 and settled in New York, where he subsequently became a naturalized citizen. The following year, 1936, Time founder Henry Luce bought Life magazine, and Eisenstaedt, already noted for his photography in Europe, was asked to join the new magazine as one of its original staff of four photographers, including Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. He remained a staff photographer from 1936 to 1972, achieving notability for his photojournalism of news events and celebrities.
Along with entertainers and celebrities, he photographed politicians, philosophers, artists, industrialists, and authors during his career with Life. By 1972 he had photographed nearly 2,500 stories and had more than 90 of his photos on the cover. With Life's circulation of two million readers, Eisenstaedt's reputation increased substantially. According to one historian, "his photographs have a power and a symbolic resonance that made him one of the best Life photographers." In subsequent years, he also worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Town & Country and others.
At the time, this style of photojournalism, with a smaller camera with its ability to use available light, was then in its infancy.[9] It also helped Eisenstaedt create a more relaxed atmosphere when shooting famous people where he was able to capture more natural poses and expressions: "They don't take me too seriously with my little camera," he stated. "I don't come as a photographer. I come as a friend." It was a style he learned from his 35 years in Europe, where he preferred shooting informal, unposed portraits, along with extended picture stories. As a result, Life began using more such photo stories, with the magazine becoming a recognized source of such photojournalism of the world's luminaries. Of Life's photographers, Eisenstaedt was most noted for his "human interest" photos and less the hard news images used by most news publications.
His success at establishing a relaxed setting for his subjects was not without difficulties, however, when he needed to capture the feeling he wanted. Anthony Eden, resistant to being photographed, called Eisenstaedt "the gentle executioner." Similarly, Winston Churchill told him where to place the camera to get a good picture, and during a photo shoot of Ernest Hemingway in his boat, Hemingway, in a rage, tore his own shirt to shreds and threatened to throw Eisenstaedt overboard.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Alfred Eisenstaedt or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
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 American sailor George Mendonsa kissing nurse Greta Zimmer Friedman in a "dancelike dip" which "summed up the euphoria many Americans felt as the war came to a close", in the words of his obituary. He was "renowned for his ability to capture memorable images of important people in the news" and for his candid photographs taken with a small 35mm Leica camera, typically with natural lighting.
Eisenstaedt became a full-time photographer in 1929 when he was hired by the Associated Press office in Germany, and within a year he was described as a "photographer extraordinaire." He also worked for Illustrierte Zeitung, published by Ullstein Verlag, then the world's largest publishing house. Four years later he photographed the famous first meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy.
In 1935, Fascist Italy's impending invasion of Ethiopia led to a burst of international interest in Ethiopia. While working for Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Alfred took over 3,500 photographs in Ethiopia, before emigrating to the United States, where he joined Life magazine, but returned in the following year to Ethiopia to continue his photography.
Eisenstaedt's family was Jewish. Oppression in Hitler's Nazi Germany caused them to emigrate to the U.S. They arrived in 1935 and settled in New York, where he subsequently became a naturalized citizen. The following year, 1936, Time founder Henry Luce bought Life magazine, and Eisenstaedt, already noted for his photography in Europe, was asked to join the new magazine as one of its original staff of four photographers, including Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. He remained a staff photographer from 1936 to 1972, achieving notability for his photojournalism of news events and celebrities.
Along with entertainers and celebrities, he photographed politicians, philosophers, artists, industrialists, and authors during his career with Life. By 1972 he had photographed nearly 2,500 stories and had more than 90 of his photos on the cover. With Life's circulation of two million readers, Eisenstaedt's reputation increased substantially. According to one historian, "his photographs have a power and a symbolic resonance that made him one of the best Life photographers." In subsequent years, he also worked for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Town & Country and others.
At the time, this style of photojournalism, with a smaller camera with its ability to use available light, was then in its infancy.[9] It also helped Eisenstaedt create a more relaxed atmosphere when shooting famous people where he was able to capture more natural poses and expressions: "They don't take me too seriously with my little camera," he stated. "I don't come as a photographer. I come as a friend." It was a style he learned from his 35 years in Europe, where he preferred shooting informal, unposed portraits, along with extended picture stories. As a result, Life began using more such photo stories, with the magazine becoming a recognized source of such photojournalism of the world's luminaries. Of Life's photographers, Eisenstaedt was most noted for his "human interest" photos and less the hard news images used by most news publications.
His success at establishing a relaxed setting for his subjects was not without difficulties, however, when he needed to capture the feeling he wanted. Anthony Eden, resistant to being photographed, called Eisenstaedt "the gentle executioner." Similarly, Winston Churchill told him where to place the camera to get a good picture, and during a photo shoot of Ernest Hemingway in his boat, Hemingway, in a rage, tore his own shirt to shreds and threatened to throw Eisenstaedt overboard.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Alfred Eisenstaedt or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
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| Mr Alfred Eisenstaedt |
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| Skating waiters serve drinks to guests on the ice rink at the Grand Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1925 |
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| Truempy Ballet School, Berlin, 1931 |
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| Waiters in the Grand Hotel dining room lined up at window watching Sonia Henie (unseen) ice skating outside, 1932 |
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| La Scala, Milan, 1934 |
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| Repairing the Hull of the Graf Zeppelin During the Flight over the Atlantic, 1934 |
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| Soldiers Kiss Women Goodbye, September 1935 |
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| Ballerinas backstage, American Ballet in New York, 1937 |
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| Multnomah Falls, Oregon, US, 1938 |
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| 1938 Nurses gathered round the stairwell of Roosevelt Hospital, 1938 |
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| Carole Lombard, 1938 |
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| Katharine Hepburn lies on the floor in a pleated dress, smoking, on Jan. 1, 1938 |
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| Bathroom, 1940 |
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| The Mount Rushmore sculpture, 1941 |
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| Clock in Pennsylvania Station, 1943 |
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| Penn Station, New York City, April 1943 |
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| Untitled (In front of the window display at Bergdorf Goodman, Fifth Avenue, New York), 1943 |
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| Bronx Zoo, 1944 |
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| V-J Day in New York City, 1945 |
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| Depicting the wasteland of Hiroshima, 1945 |
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| V-J Day at Times Square, New York City, 1945 |
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| Railroad crew clearing tracks near Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, after a blizzard, 1946 |
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| A group of boys, 1947 |
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| Albert Einstein in 1949 |
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| Gene Kelly in 1949 |
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| Drum major of the University of Michigan rehearsing, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950 |
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| British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flashing the “V" for Victory, 1951 |
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| Gene Kelly's outfit, 1951 |
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| The painter Augustus John in his studio, 1951 |
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| Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, 1952 |
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| GIlbert Murray, 1952 |
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| Marilyn Monroe Black Sweater, 1953 |
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| Marilyn Monroe, 1953 |
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| Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, Taliesin, Wisconsin, 1956 |
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| Central Park after a snowstorm, New York, 1959 |
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| Senator John F. Kennedy and daughter Caroline, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, 1960 |
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| Weight Loss Camp, 1960 |
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| Part of Quitsa Pond, Martha's Vineyard, 1961 |
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| Sophia Loren, 1961 |
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| Marlene Dietrich in the Louis Sherry Bar at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, 1962 |
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| Expression of children at Paris Puppet Theater the moment the Bad Dragon was killed, the Tuileries Garden, Paris, 1963 |
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| New York, 1963 |
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| The Parisians (Ballerinas at the Paris Opera), 1963 |
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| Sophia Loren as the prostitute Filumena in "Marriage Italian Style", 1964 |
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| Andrew Wyeth's Hat, Bed and Dog, 1965 |
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| Giant oak tree in N'Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, 1968 |
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| Presidential adviser Henry Kissinger, 1969 |
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| Mia farrow, 1974 |
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