Considered to be the “father of photojournalism “, Alfred Eisenstadedt,
has definitely made a name of himself. He was born in 1898, in Dirschau,
West Prussia to Regina and Joseph Eisenstaedt. He then moved to Berlin,
and remained there until Hitler came to power and he moved to the United
States. He was drafted into the German army when he was 17, in 1918 and
was latter sent home after being under attack and having shrapnel tear
through both legs. During these times of recovery, he put much interest
into photography. While a door-to-door salesmen, he was able to put all
his wages into photographic equipment that was put to much use in his bathroom.
He was able to learn, as little as there was back then, from Dr. Erich Salomon, whom he considereds to be the real father of photography. He would have very little rules to follow because of the newness of the field of work. He started working as a freelance photographer for Pacific and Atlantic Photos, that later became Associated Press. His frist job was of portraits of statesmen and artists. By 1933, he was sent to take the pictures of the two men that would cause him to leave Europe: Hitler and Mussolini and immigrated to the United States in 1935. He would later come to work with Margaret Bourke-White at Time. After the war, he traveled to Hiroshima and was able to capture the famous pictures of destruction. During the 1950’s he went to capture the Korean War. Finally, coming back to the United States to “settle”, he started up with portraits of famous people including: JFK and Caroline, Albert Einstein, Sophia Loren, Ernest Hemingway, and the Clintons. His whole life was devoted to taking pictures that were his choice. He died August 24, 1995, but never wasting a moment, when it could have been captured on film.
His famous picture “V-J Celebration in Times Square”, was taken August 14,1945. The young man in the picture had been running up and down the street kissing every women he came across, and Eisenstaedt finally got ahead of him to capture this picture, that says a thousand words. The United States was finally seeing their boys come home, and when the big parade went down New York City, it was definitely a sight to see. The picture was published in Time/Life and is still seen as a famous way to end the war. It is able to portray the positive feelings that ran through the city when the war was declared over, even after years of pain and horror. Today, this picture can be seen in poster stores and on the front of Hallmark cards as a romantic, passionate kiss that sends off a chill of energy to those who see it.
