Alfred Eisenstaedt
American, b. West Prussia, 1898-1995
Swan Lake Rehearsal, Grand Opera de Paris, 1986
Silver gelatin print, 17 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches
Art Museum purchase through the Eastman Kodak Fund
1985.1
I have illumination only through the skylight of the studio—a Rembrandt sort of light. I used to look at the old master painters in museums and study their light and composition.
— Alfred Eisenstaedt
Described as the “father of photojournalism,” Alfred Eisenstaedt was a button and belt salesman turned professional photographer. Best known for his V-J Day photograph of a sailor and nurse kissing in the streets of New York, Eisenstaedt began taking pictures at the age of 14 and became one of the original staff photographers of Life magazine, logging over 2,000 assignments. This particular photograph, taken on his first assignment outside Germany, reveals the influence of painting predecessors and Eisenstaedt’s ability to capture the beauty of passing moments. Eisenstaedt likens his photographic process to that of a carpenter with a hammer: he uses the camera as a tool to capture a precise mood.