Alfred Eisenstaedt's Famous VJ Day Kiss
VJ Day Kiss
Alfred Eisenstaedt had a natural talent for photojournalism. LIFE Magazine recognized his remarkable ability for candid photography, and brought him onboard for the first issue in 1936 shortly after his escape to the United States from Nazi Germany.
The VJ Day Kiss is his most famous photograph. (Copyright Eisenstadt/LIFE)
(Hover over the photograph to see the VJ Day Kiss Replayed 2005)
In the midst of the excited crowd jubiliantly celebrating Victory Japan Day, Alfred Eisenstaedt watched a young sailor kiss every woman in sight from grandmothers to secretaries. From the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of white and turned just in time to capture his famous candid photograph of the VJ Day Kiss of the sailor and the nurse.
Ebullient, Alfred Eisenstaedt, later quipped, "People tell me that when I am in Heaven, they will remember this picture".
The VJ Day Kiss is his most famous photograph. (Copyright Eisenstadt/LIFE)
(Hover over the photograph to see the VJ Day Kiss Replayed 2005)
In the midst of the excited crowd jubiliantly celebrating Victory Japan Day, Alfred Eisenstaedt watched a young sailor kiss every woman in sight from grandmothers to secretaries. From the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of white and turned just in time to capture his famous candid photograph of the VJ Day Kiss of the sailor and the nurse.
Ebullient, Alfred Eisenstaedt, later quipped, "People tell me that when I am in Heaven, they will remember this picture".
World Wars
Born December 6,1898 in West Prussia, little is known of his early life except that the family moved to Berlin in 1906. He had, however, an instant affinity to photography from the time he received an Eastman Kodak Folding Camera when he was 14.
(Like Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ansel Adams received his initial photographic inspiration through the gift of a camera at a young age.) CLICK HERE to learn more about Ansel Adams
During World War I he was drafted into the German army. On April 12, 1918 his entire artillery battery was destroyed on the Flanders front. He survived, but a piece of shrapnel went through his right leg and into his left knee.
He told his good friend, William Marks, "It took me years to walk on my own two legs without assistance or crutches or canes. Sometimes...I can still smell the stench of death. It was horrible".
He was very self conscious about his disfigured knees, and later in life was in much pain due to arthritis.
(Like Alfred Eisenstaedt, Ansel Adams received his initial photographic inspiration through the gift of a camera at a young age.) CLICK HERE to learn more about Ansel Adams
During World War I he was drafted into the German army. On April 12, 1918 his entire artillery battery was destroyed on the Flanders front. He survived, but a piece of shrapnel went through his right leg and into his left knee.
He told his good friend, William Marks, "It took me years to walk on my own two legs without assistance or crutches or canes. Sometimes...I can still smell the stench of death. It was horrible".
He was very self conscious about his disfigured knees, and later in life was in much pain due to arthritis.
Candid Photography To Berlin Fame
Eisenstaedt-Goebbels
After recuperating from his war injuries, Alfred Eisenstaedt sold his first photograph in 1927.
He began his first free lance job in Berlin in 1928 for a company that was bought out by the Associated Press in 1931.
He commented, "Photojournalism had just started, and I knew very little about photography. It was an adventure and I was always amazed when anything came out". ('Alfred Eisenstaedt' by Ray Zone)
He was a fast learner with a unique talent for candid photography. In 1929 he decided to make photography his career. His photojournalistic skill gained him recognition throughout Europe, and in 1933 he was one of the few photographers present to photograph the meeting between Hitler and Mussolini.
His Joseph Goebbles photo at the League of Nations(Copyright Eisenstaedt/LIFE) clearly displays the antagonism of his subject when Goebbles realized Eisenstaedt was Jewish.
When he was asked if he was uncomfortable photographing the Nazi, he responded yes, but that he was never afraid when he was taking pictures.
He began his first free lance job in Berlin in 1928 for a company that was bought out by the Associated Press in 1931.
He commented, "Photojournalism had just started, and I knew very little about photography. It was an adventure and I was always amazed when anything came out". ('Alfred Eisenstaedt' by Ray Zone)
He was a fast learner with a unique talent for candid photography. In 1929 he decided to make photography his career. His photojournalistic skill gained him recognition throughout Europe, and in 1933 he was one of the few photographers present to photograph the meeting between Hitler and Mussolini.
His Joseph Goebbles photo at the League of Nations(Copyright Eisenstaedt/LIFE) clearly displays the antagonism of his subject when Goebbles realized Eisenstaedt was Jewish.
When he was asked if he was uncomfortable photographing the Nazi, he responded yes, but that he was never afraid when he was taking pictures.
Escape From the Reich
Eisenstaedt-SkatingWaiter
A photograph that he undoubtedly enjoyed much more and described as "smashing" is that of the skating waiter. He commented, "To be sure the picture was sharp, I put a chair on the ice and asked the waiter to skate by. I had a Miroflex camera and focused on the chair".
In 1935 Alfred Eisenstaedt and his widowed mother emigrated to the United States. Unlike many immigrants, he came to the USA with very marketable skills. Within a year he was working for the brand new magazine, LIFE, where he continued to contribute candid photography until 1972. His photographs of such celebrities as Ernest Hemingway and Sophia Loren appeared on 90 LIFE covers.
He later told William Marks that moving to America "was one of the best decisions I made in my life".
He later told William Marks that moving to America "was one of the best decisions I made in my life".
Martha's Vineyard - Eisenstadt's Summer Escape
Alfred Eisenstaedt in Martha's Vineyard 1957(Photograph Copyright Dirck Halstead)
In 1937, only two years after his arrival in the United States, Eisenstadt was given the photographic assignment that became the love of his life. Roy Larson, vice president of Time, Inc. and publisher of LIFE Magazine, asked him to do a story about Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.
The Vinyard, as it is familiarly known to locals and vacationers, is famous for Gay Head, its colorful majestic cliffs overhanging the Vineyard Sound.
His first glimpse of the island was as a passenger on Larson's powerboat as they sped from the neighboring island of Nantucket.It took his breath away.
The view of the Gay Head cliffs was "so unbelievably beautiful", he said, "that it made my eyes fill with tears".
He never tired of photographing the lovliness of the island and the uniqueness of residents and visitors, and returned as often as possible for the rest of his life. After his marriage to Kathy Kaye in 1949, he never missed a summer on the Vineyard.
His island respites were a time of personal rejuvination as well as experimentation with lighting and other photographic techniques.
One occasion, especially memorable to him, occurred in 1971 when he set his Leica on a tripod with a 400 millemeter lens. No amount of time seemed too long to invest for a perfect picture. His hope was to capture a sailboat "before it disappeared behind the cliffs".
His patience was rewarded with his photograph entitled "Sailboat Near Gay Head".
In 1937, only two years after his arrival in the United States, Eisenstadt was given the photographic assignment that became the love of his life. Roy Larson, vice president of Time, Inc. and publisher of LIFE Magazine, asked him to do a story about Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.
The Vinyard, as it is familiarly known to locals and vacationers, is famous for Gay Head, its colorful majestic cliffs overhanging the Vineyard Sound.
His first glimpse of the island was as a passenger on Larson's powerboat as they sped from the neighboring island of Nantucket.It took his breath away.
The view of the Gay Head cliffs was "so unbelievably beautiful", he said, "that it made my eyes fill with tears".
He never tired of photographing the lovliness of the island and the uniqueness of residents and visitors, and returned as often as possible for the rest of his life. After his marriage to Kathy Kaye in 1949, he never missed a summer on the Vineyard.
His island respites were a time of personal rejuvination as well as experimentation with lighting and other photographic techniques.
One occasion, especially memorable to him, occurred in 1971 when he set his Leica on a tripod with a 400 millemeter lens. No amount of time seemed too long to invest for a perfect picture. His hope was to capture a sailboat "before it disappeared behind the cliffs".
His patience was rewarded with his photograph entitled "Sailboat Near Gay Head".
Epitaphs - In Memory of Greatness
After his death on August 24, 1995, Dirck Halstead, publisher/photojournalist/White House photographer, said "When it came to choosing the one photojournalist [for the publication,'Digital Journalist'] who leaves the greatest legacy, there was no question...that person is Alfred Eisenstaedt".
Known to his friends as Eisie, Eisenstaedt was a charming man, and his diminutive 5 foot 4 inch stature created photographic opportunities for his photojournalism denied to more visible photographers. He was both personally and professionally frugal. He travelled light with only a couple of lenses and some film, and sometimes a tripod. He was devoted to natural light. He waited for it, and timed himself for it. No flash. He loved people. All people. Not just the rich or famous.
And, his friends didn't just like him. They adored him.
Although he was known to readily speak his mind, and in his latter years he was very interested in what others wrote about him, he was also unassuming. He jokingly spoke his own epitaph when he said,"My tombstone will say, 'Here lies Alfred Eisenstaedt, the man who took that Times Square photograph on VJ Day".
The VJ Day Kiss is undoubtedly the most well known of his thousands of photographs, and perhaps it defines his photojournalism for its spontaneity and realtity. His candid photographs are known and loved because of their richness of detail and gesture.
He was able to develop the art of photojournalism in the 1920's because he understood that the small negative produced by the Ermanox camera invented by Dr. Erich Salmon would allow unobstrusive photographing of unaware subjects.
He justly earned the National Medal of Arts in November 1989 for "extraordinary photographs that document the tragedies and triumphs he witnessed over a lifetime".
Eisie's last famous photograph was of President Bill Clinton, his wife, Hillary and daughter, Chelsea when he was 93, but he continued to be active into his 96th year.
He was known to tap his head and say, "What you feel is in here". It was his way of saying age is only in the mind.
Yet Alfred Eisenstaedt was surprised by his own mortality as his circulation and health in general deteriorated. On his last day he told his caretaker and sister-in-law, Lulu, "I am dying". A short while later as she was helping him to change positions in order to reduce his pain, his head drooped and he stopped talking in mid-sentence. His friend, William Marks,who was also with him tried CPR.
At the Chilmark Church (Martha's Vineyard) he was memoralized by 5 of his closest friends: author, David Mccullough; former Time-Life editor, Ralph Graves; family attorney, David Nierenberg; LIFE picutre editor, Bobbi Baker Burrows; and publisher/author, William Marks.
Eisie was gone, but as Dirck Halstead said in memoriam, "...the gift he left to the world" are "his brilliant images". "We miss him very much".
The Digital Journalist by Dirck Halstead is a wealth of copyrighted photos and info about Alfred Eisenstadt - CLICK HERE
The following is included from The Digital Journalist:© 1999 BY DIRCK HALSTEAD ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDAll photographs and text by Dirck Halstead appearing in dirckhalstead.org are the exclusive property of Dirck Halstead and are protected under United States and international copyright laws. The photographs appearing in this web site by other contributing photographers are similarly protected in their names. The photographs may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated for commercial or editorial purposes without written permission of their author(s), however Dirck Halstead grants and encourages use for personal and educational purposes, with the exception of textbook.No images are in the Public Domain. Use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright.
Known to his friends as Eisie, Eisenstaedt was a charming man, and his diminutive 5 foot 4 inch stature created photographic opportunities for his photojournalism denied to more visible photographers. He was both personally and professionally frugal. He travelled light with only a couple of lenses and some film, and sometimes a tripod. He was devoted to natural light. He waited for it, and timed himself for it. No flash. He loved people. All people. Not just the rich or famous.
And, his friends didn't just like him. They adored him.
Although he was known to readily speak his mind, and in his latter years he was very interested in what others wrote about him, he was also unassuming. He jokingly spoke his own epitaph when he said,"My tombstone will say, 'Here lies Alfred Eisenstaedt, the man who took that Times Square photograph on VJ Day".
The VJ Day Kiss is undoubtedly the most well known of his thousands of photographs, and perhaps it defines his photojournalism for its spontaneity and realtity. His candid photographs are known and loved because of their richness of detail and gesture.
He was able to develop the art of photojournalism in the 1920's because he understood that the small negative produced by the Ermanox camera invented by Dr. Erich Salmon would allow unobstrusive photographing of unaware subjects.
He justly earned the National Medal of Arts in November 1989 for "extraordinary photographs that document the tragedies and triumphs he witnessed over a lifetime".
Eisie's last famous photograph was of President Bill Clinton, his wife, Hillary and daughter, Chelsea when he was 93, but he continued to be active into his 96th year.
He was known to tap his head and say, "What you feel is in here". It was his way of saying age is only in the mind.
Yet Alfred Eisenstaedt was surprised by his own mortality as his circulation and health in general deteriorated. On his last day he told his caretaker and sister-in-law, Lulu, "I am dying". A short while later as she was helping him to change positions in order to reduce his pain, his head drooped and he stopped talking in mid-sentence. His friend, William Marks,who was also with him tried CPR.
At the Chilmark Church (Martha's Vineyard) he was memoralized by 5 of his closest friends: author, David Mccullough; former Time-Life editor, Ralph Graves; family attorney, David Nierenberg; LIFE picutre editor, Bobbi Baker Burrows; and publisher/author, William Marks.
Eisie was gone, but as Dirck Halstead said in memoriam, "...the gift he left to the world" are "his brilliant images". "We miss him very much".
The Digital Journalist by Dirck Halstead is a wealth of copyrighted photos and info about Alfred Eisenstadt - CLICK HERE
The following is included from The Digital Journalist:© 1999 BY DIRCK HALSTEAD ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDAll photographs and text by Dirck Halstead appearing in dirckhalstead.org are the exclusive property of Dirck Halstead and are protected under United States and international copyright laws. The photographs appearing in this web site by other contributing photographers are similarly protected in their names. The photographs may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated for commercial or editorial purposes without written permission of their author(s), however Dirck Halstead grants and encourages use for personal and educational purposes, with the exception of textbook.No images are in the Public Domain. Use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright.