Figurev 1.--Here we see a classic Eisenstaedt photograph of Pariusian children watching a pupet show (1963). Although Eisenstaedt did not especially focus on children few photographers have so perfectly captured childhood joy and excitement as Eisenstaedt did here. The ohotograph was taken the Tuileries Garden. He explains, "It took a long time to get the angle I liked. There are some close-ups of the children that are good. But the best picture is the one I took at the climax of the action. It carries all the excitement of the children screaming, 'The dragon is slain!' ".

Alfred Eisenstaedt was born in Germany (1898). As a boy, Alfred was interested in music. For his 13th birthday, an uncle gave him a folding Eastman Kodak Number Three canera and he was hooked. He served in he Germany Army during World War I. He became one of the world's great photographers and photojournalists. He began his photogaphic career in Germany prior to the NAZIs seizng power. He worked part time and wasnoticed. He became a full-time photographer (1929). The Associated Press in Germany. He also worked under contract for Illustrierte Zeitung published by Ullstein Verlag which at thetime was the world's largest publishing house. One of his most recognizable photographs was a waiter at the ice rink of the Grand Hotel in St. Moritz (1932). While he did not produce a lot of World War II images, he produced some of the most iconic photographa of the War. He photographed the first meeting between Adolf Hitler and Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Italy (1933). One especially chiiling photograph was of NAZI propagandist Joseph Goebbels at the League of Nations in Geneva (1933). Goebbels was intially friendly, but Eisenstaedt captured him scowling after he learned that Eisenstaedt was Jewish. Mussolini invaded Ethiopia (1935). Eisenstaedt still working for Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, took over 3,500 photographs in Ethiopia. Eisenstaedt was Jewish abd his family fled Germany, reaching safety in America (1935). He joined fellow AP émigrés Leon Daniel and Celia Kutschuk to found the PIX Publishing photo agency. The next year Time founder Henry Luce purchased Life magazine and asked Eisenstaedt to join the new magazine as one of its original staff of four photographers, including Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. His war photograhy basically book ends the World War II beginning in Poland (1939) and ending in Japan (1945). Eisenstaedt at the very beginning of the War took one of the iconic images illuistrating the horrors to come, a Polish girl murdered by a Luftwaffe pilot. He documented the horrendous damage inflicted on the Polish nation and people. At the end of the War he took a poignet portrait of a woman and baby in the ruins of Hiroshima (1945). His photograph of a sailor kissing a Woman in Times Square on V-J Day is one of the most famous photographs ever taken. Eisenstaedt continued working as a staff photographer (through 1972) He became famous for photographing celeberties. But he captued ordinary people as well A good example is an Ecuadoren market (1966). Although Eisenstaedt did not especially focus in children few photograpohers have so perfectly captured childhood joy and excitement as Eisenstaedt did in a image of French children at pupet theateer (fugure 1). Eisenstadet was working in France capturing everydy French life (1963). France was still a mix of the old and new before the French Student Riots would change France for ever(1969).

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Created: 9:14 PM 4/4/2022
Last updated: 9:14 PM 4/4/2022