ALFRED EISENSTAEDT – PORTRAITS OF THE PAST
2019-04-15The German-born American photographer, best known for his candid black-and-white photographs of celebrities, politicians, and captivating street scenes, captured life, movement and emotion in a strong yet natural manner.
Alfred Eisenstaedt was born 1898 in Dirschau, West Prussia. In 1906 his family moved to Berlin where he studied music, received his first camera, an Eastman Kodak Number Three, and used his parents bathroom for a makeshift dark room. Eisenstaedt was drafted into the German army after the outbreak of WW1 and served at the front lines in Flanders until April 1918, enemy fire crippled both his legs, yet thankfully his life was spared. After the war, he worked as a salesman, but continually found success with assignments as a freelance photographer. His first major mission was covering Thomas Mann accepting the Nobel Prize in literature in 1929. Eisenstaedt came under the influence of photographer Erich Salomon and his work regularly found its way into Die Dame, Berliner Illustrierte, The Graphic, The London Illustrated News and many other magazines.
Opposite – Future Ballerinas of the American Ballet Theater, 1937
Exhibition runs through to April 27th, 2019
Robert Mann Gallery
525 West 26th Street, Floor 2
New York
10001 NY
