Photographer Research Project

Alfred Eisenstaedt

• Alfred Eisenstaedt was a german born photographer that pursued his career in Germany and here in the US. He was born in West Prussia in 1898 and died in 1995 in Massachusetts. 
• He started his photography career right before WWII in Germany. He was hired by the Associated Press office in Germany in 1927. At his new job he quickly gained popularity for his photos and was soon described as a "photographer extraordinaire."
• Primarily his work was for magazines. In the US he worked for Life Magazines as a staff photographer. They published over 2,500 pictures of his, 90 of which making it on the cover. 
• He became "renowned for his ability to capture memorable images of important people in the news" 
• Eisenstaedt used a small 35mm Leica camera to take most of his photos. 
• Typically he used natural lighting primarily because he was taking real life photos for the news and magazined and didn't have time to set up professional lighting.
• I couldn't find any person that influenced him. However, he was influenced by the popular 4"-5" camera that seemed to be the norm for all news photographers at the time. He was influenced by them because he didn't want to use them. He preferred smaller, more portable cameras so he can get in the action. This is also partly why he used natural light, there was no light attachment on his smaller cameras.
• Eisenstaedt served in Germany's military for WWI. However, he got injured in 1918 and left the war to become a button salesman. During that time he started taking photos and gained popularity for his work.
• Here are 10 photos he took:

Response:

1. I like the simplicity in his work. He clearly defines the focal point/subject by using depth of field or using the 2/3rds rule. This makes what he wants you to focus on very obvious which makes his message clear and easy to understand. I like how his subject usually takes up 2/3rds pf the photo, again making it easy to understand his message. Most of his photos are action shots because he worked for a news company which I like because it tells a story without words. I can see why he gained so much popularity for his work as a news photographer. 
2. I'm going to be honest, I just randomly selected one because I wanted to learn about someone I didn't know. I think his name definitely caught my eye tho and that might be a reason. Overall, it was pure chance.
3. While the lighting isn't outstanding, and the editing isn't unreal, his strongest attribute is the clearness in his photos. As I keep on stating his photos are simple yet meaningful which is very appealing to me.