

- #LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED EISENSTAEDT. PORTABLE#
- #LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED EISENSTAEDT. PROFESSIONAL#
He also had an innate sense of timing, and his photographs often captured fleeting moments of beauty and emotion. He was a master of composition, often using elements of symmetry, light, and shadow to create dynamic and powerful images. His artistic vision was based on his ability to capture the moment and to capture the human spirit in a way that was both intimate and joyous. 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.Alfred Eisenstaedt was an iconic figure in the world of design and photography, whose work has been influential in shaping the modern visual language. 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. His success at establishing a relaxed setting for his subjects was not without difficulties, however, when he needed to capture the feeling he wanted. Of Life’s photographers, Eisenstaedt was most noted for his “human interest” photos, and less the hard news images used by most news publications. 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. 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. 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.

In 1944, Life described him as the “dean of today’s miniature-camera experts.”Īt the time, this style of photojournalism, with a smaller camera with its ability to use available light, was then in its infancy. His photos were also notable as a result of his typical use of natural light as opposed to relying of flash lighting.
#LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED EISENSTAEDT. PORTABLE#
Unlike most news photographers at the time, who relied on much larger and less portable 4″ x 5″ press cameras with flash attachments, Eisenstaedt preferred the smaller hand-held Leica which gave him greater speed and more flexibility when shooting news events or capturing candids of people in action.
#LIFE MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHER ALFRED EISENSTAEDT. PROFESSIONAL#
Style and techniqueįrom his early years as professional photographer he became an enthusiast for small 35 mm film cameras, especially the Leica camera.

In subsequent years, he also worked for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Town & Country and others. According to one historian, “his photographs have a power and a symbolic resonance that made him one of the best Lifephotographers. With Life’s circulation of two million readers, Eisenstaedt’s reputation increased substantially. He remained a staff photographer from 1936 to 1972, achieving notability for hisphotojournalism of news events and celebrities.Īlong with entertainers and celebrities, he photographed politicians, philosophers, artists, industrialists and authors during his career with Life, and by 1972 he had photographed nearly 2,500 stories and had more than 90 of his photos on the cover. 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. They arrived in 1935 and settled in New York, where he subsequently became a naturalized citizen. Although initially friendly, Goebbels scowled at Eisenstaedt when he took the photograph.īecause of oppression in Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Eisenstaedt’s family saw that the Nazis were targeting Germany’s Jewish population and decided to emigrate to the U.S. Moritz in 1932 and Joseph Goebbels at the League of Nations in Geneva in 1933. Other notable, early pictures by Eisenstaedt include his depiction of a waiter at the ice rink of the Grand Hotel in St. Four years later he photographed the famous first meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy. Photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt Professional photographerĮisenstaedt 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.
