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Alfred Eisenstaedt:
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Albert Eisenstaedt is known as "The father of photojournalism." He perfected a camera technique to illustrate a spontaneous moment in time. |
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He began taking pictures while just a teenage boy using his first camera, which was an Eastman Kodak Folding Camera with roll film. |
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He photographed a 1933 meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Italy. The same year Joseph Goebbels stood before Eisenstaedt's camera. He shot ninety covers for Life. Others who had their visages recorded were Sophia Loren and Ernest Hemingway.
Title: Baking for the Population – The Largest Bakery in Berlin, 1930
Artist: Alfred Eisenstaedt (German-American 1898-1995)
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print
Permanent Collection: Art Gallery of Ontario.
Anonymous Gift, 2002
© AGO Reproduction Restricted, 67219
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario
Eisenstaedt developed his candid style of photography in Germany during the late 1920s and 30s.
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His preferred subjects chronicled the 1930s during pre-WWII Europe and were published in what were the popular picture magazines of the time |
Title: Ostasien – Dampfer c. 1934
Artist: Alfred Eisenstaedt (German-American 1898-1995)
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print
Permanent Collection: Art Gallery of Ontario.
Anonymous Gift, 2002
© AGO Reproduction Restricted, 67742
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario
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Alfred Eisnstaedt's photographs grabbed the eye, given they captured the lives of ordinary people, through their unique focus on cultural activities and vivid everyday moments. |
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The photographer's perceptive eye and timing brought a sense of spontaneity to his subjects. |
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Alfred Eisenstaedt's realistic style contributed to the foundation of modern photojournalism, earning him the nickname "the father of photojournalism". |
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Eisdenstaedt wasn't the first photojournalist. That honor goes to Carol Szathmari who photographed the Crimean War from 1853-1856. Others followed such as Jacob Riis, Robert Capa, Margaret Bourke-White, W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Erich Salomon, Tony Vaccaro and Robert Capa.
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The AGO has approximately 65 Alfred Eisenstaedt photographs on display. |
Eisenstaedt's final professional photographs were taken in August of 1993. The sitters were the President of the United States Bill Clinton, the First Lady Hillary Clinton and their daughter Chelsea.
Title: Examination of German Dancer in the Third Reich, 1934
Artist: Alfred Eisenstaedt (German-American 1898-1995)
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print
Permanent Collection: Art Gallery of Ontario.
Anonymous Gift, 2002
© AGO Reproduction Restricted, 45738
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario
The AGO owns more than 400 photographs by Eisenstaedt, a component of the Klinsky Agency collection, thanks to an extraordinary anonymous gift to the AGO which includes more than 18,000 works of photography.
Title: School of Rhythm and Deportment, 1936
Artist: Alfred Eisenstaedt (German-American 1898-1995)
Medium: Gelatin Silver Print
Permanent Collection: Art Gallery of Ontario.
Anonymous Gift, 2002
© AGO Reproduction Restricted, 67895
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario
During the Alfred Eisenstaedt exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario there is a complimentary exhibit featuring the photographs of Ansel Adams.
Alfred Eisenstaedt
Art Gallery of Ontario:
November 18, 2006 - February 4, 2007