ALFRED EISENSTAEDT (1947)

Pioneering photojournalist whose widely printed pictures vividly chronicle the period since the early 1930s.

He served in the German Army in World War I from 1916 to 1918 sustaining injuries in both legs.

After becoming an enthusiastic amateur photographer, he decided in 1929 to turn professional, thus becoming a part of the active photojournalism field that was developing in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s. In this period he was particularly influenced by Erich Salomon, a pioneer in candid photography.

In the early 1930s he developed skill in the use of the 35-mm Leica camera and his work began to appear in many European picture magazines. He covered the rise of Hitler and in 1935 made a notable series on Ethiopia just before the Italian invasion.

Also in 1935 he left Germany for the United States and in April 1936 joined the new picture magazine Life. One of his pictures appeared on the cover of the second issue and they continued to appear in following issues.

Eisenstaedt´s assignments have been many and varied. He made outstanding portraits of kings, dictators and motion picture stars but he also sensitively photographed ordinary people in workaday situations.

Characterizing his work Eisenstaedt once said that all a photojournalist has to do is "to find and catch the storytelling moment".

Einsenstaedt described his life and work in The Eye of Eisenstaedt (1969).