| Alfred Eisenstaedt | |
|---|---|
In London, 1932 (age 34)
| |
| Born | December 6, 1898 Dirschau (Tczew), West Prussia, Imperial Germany |
| Died | August 24, 1995 (aged 96) Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | Photojournalism |
Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898[1] – August 24, 1995) was aGerman-born American photographer and photojournalist. He is bestknown for his photograph of the V-J Day celebration [2] and for hiscandid photographs, frequently made using a 35mm Leica camera.
Early life
Eisenstaedt was born in Dirschau (Tczew) in West Prussia, Imperial Germany in 1898. His family moved to Berlin in 1906. Eisenstaedt wasfascinated by photography from his youth and began taking pictures atage 14 when he was given his first camera, an Eastman Kodak FoldingCamera with roll film. Eisenstaedt served in the German Army's artilleryduring World War I, and was wounded in 1918. While working as a beltand button salesman in the 1920s in Weimar Germany, Eisenstaedtbegan taking photographs as a freelancer for the Pacific and AtlanticPhotos' Berlin office in 1928. The office was taken over by AssociatedPress in 1931.
Professional photographer
Eisenstaedt successfully became a full-time photographer in 1929. Fouryears later he photographed a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy. Other notable, early pictures by Eisenstaedt includehis depiction of a waiter at the ice rink of the Grand Hotel in St. Moritz in1932 and Joseph Goebbels at the League of Nations in Geneva in1933. Although initially friendly, Goebbels scowled for the photographwhen he learned that Eisenstaedt was Jewish.[3]
Because of oppression in Hitler's Nazi Germany, Eisenstaedt emigrated to the United States in 1935 where he lived inJackson Heights, Queens, New York, for the rest of his life.[4] He worked as a staff photographer for Life magazine from1936 to 1972. His photos of news events and celebrities, such as Dagmar, Sophia Loren and Ernest Hemingway, appearedon 90 Life covers.[2] Eisenstaedt was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1989 by President George Bush in a ceremonyon the White House lawn.[5]
