Alfred Eisenstaedt Biography

Name of Partner: Elyse Van Fleet

Name of Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt

We chose Alfred because his photographs were the most visualy appealing of all the photographer's works that we looked at. We really liked the vintage look of the photographs.The fact that he uses mostly people in his photographs is also very interesting. He really focuses on people in their daily lives and makes it beautiful. His celebrity photos are also very beautiful. The pictures of the Kennedy's and Marilyn Monroe are really interesting because they are candid. Alfred really seemed to know just the right angles to make a photograph a work of art. Just look a this. -------->He is an amazing photographer and that's the whole reason why we chose him (even though we can't pronounce his last name)!

Alfred "Eisie" Eisenstaedt was one to be remembered. He captured famous moments for over sixty years. Born December 6, 1898 in West Prussia, he was born to Regina and Joseph Eisenstaedt and was one of three sons. His first spark for photography started when his uncle gave him a Kodak No. 3 folding camera at the age 14.
Alfred's spark for photography was put on hold for a few years, when he was drafted into the German Army at the age of 17. While in battle Alfred was badly injured, but pulled through. He was the only survivor of his artillery. After his injury, he was sent home. This is when his spark was reignited. As his injuries began to heal he slowly began to visit museums to study light and composition. He then started capturing his own moments and developing them in his own bathroom.
The first photo that Alfred was truly proud of was of a woman playing tennis. After showing this photo to a friend he discovered he could enlarge the photo to enhance its qualities. This is when Alfreds spark tuned into a flame. At the age of 31 he had become a full time photographer. He was greatly inspired by the work of Martin Munkasci and Dr. Erich Salomon, whom he called the father of candid photography.
In 1949 Alfred married Kathy Kaye who lived in New York. While in New York started working for the Pacific and Atlantic Photos, which is now the Associated Press. While working there he shot a vast variety of moments. These included portraits of the famous and social events of the time.
He later began working with three other photographers; Margaret Bourke-White, Thomas McAvoay, and Peter Stackpole. They started a project that was kept secret until its release in LIFE magazine on November 23 1936. Until its release the project was only know as Project X. By this time the Cold War was taking place. Alfred could not go shoot this footage though because he was not yet a citizen.
Alfred wanted to recapture the famous kiss in Times Square on VJ Day, so he followed a sailor around who was kissing everyone. The next thing he knew the soldier was grabbing a girl in white and giving Alfred the picture he had been waiting for. This did not turn out to be Alfred's favorite picture though. His favorite was of a young woman in a box seat at La Scala Opera. Although this was Alfred's favorite photo, it was never printed.
In 1942 Alfred finally became a citizen and was able to go over seas to document the war. Alfred then captured Korea, Italy, and England where Winston Churchill posed for him. Other famous celebrities also posed for Alfred such as Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Marlene Dietrich, Albert Einstien, and his favorite Sophia Loren. Alfred then said "You learn something form every picture you take."
Although Alfred was well known and photographed the famous, his first major retrospective show was not until the ripe age of 88 when the International Center of Photography presented 125 of his prints. Alfred shot nearly 100 covers for LIFE Magazine and 10,000 prints. Alfred won many awards and was admired by many. John Loengaurd described Alfred's greatness by saying "He never tries to please editors. He only makes pictures that please him." Alfred was a prime example for those who also have the spark for photography.

Different Views

This picture is heartbreaking yet inspiring at the same time. It's heartbreaking to see these people being attacked for standing up for themselves, but it's so inspiring to see them sticking together and helping each other stand up. I like how the two people are in the center of this photo and everything else is just blurred. It emphasizes the unity. This photo makes the times of the civil rights movement so much more real. I think for my generation it's hard to imagine times like that, but photos like this almost put us in the moment. It's like we are there watching them flee.

I instantly fell in love with Ernst Haas's work. It's so unique and beautiful. I really like this picture of the ballet because it shows the dancer's strength. At first glance it might look like their legs are just crossed. When you look closer you see not only are their legs crossed, but so are their feet. They make this pose look so simple, but this position is only achievable with hard work and discipline.

The city from the 40's to the 60's are my favorite times. I would love to go back to these times. This picture captures that moment and that's why I love it. I also love it because it is taken at a quiet moment of the city, either early morning or late night. It's also great that the street is wet making the picture glisten more.

Both the ballet photo and the city photo are brilliant.

Although the ballet could be in color and the city be in black and white, I think the way they are is the best way for them to be. I think the black and white of the ballet shows the seriousness of the ballet. If it were in color it would seem more fun and not so serious or disciplined. I think the city photo needs to stay in color because this was a time when America was coming to life. The color shows this. It's vibrant and real. The black and white would dull it out. So even though both would work either way, I don't think the reverse would tell the story as well.

I think the photo on page 349 was taken in the 40's or 50's in the winter season. The way they are dressed and the way their hair is done is way I think it was in the 40's and 50's. Their coats and hats is why I believe it was in the winter months. I think this photo was taken in New York City by the water. It's either by the water or up in a tall building like the Empire State Building because there is nothing really in the background of the picture. At first I thought that maybe the man was with one of the women and the other woman was just a friend, but now I believe that they are brother and sisters. They seem to have a playful comfortable look to them and that's why I think they are brother and sisters. I think they are higher class because of their dress. Plus if they live in the city they probably would be higher class. Even though I think they are higher class, I don't believe they are snobbish. I think they are friendly and fun loving. Their posture and look just seems laid back to me. I think this photo was taken for family memories for them.

The photos of the mothers on page 351 can be interpreted many ways. I don't think what we can use what we know from our time of mothers to interpret how those feel and know. Things are so different now than the way they were then. They had different responsibilities and different worries. Illnesses were different and living conditions were different. This is why I don't think we can judge how these women feel in their life. I do think that we can say that these women protect their children, love their children, and worry for their children. Those are natural instincts a mother has that I believe doesn't change with time.

I think Koudelka focuses on the place and not the people because I think in our busy world we forget to really look around us and he wants us to slow down and look around us. We look at people and give our opinions, but we rarely stop and look around us. I think he really wants the audience to see what is going on around us. The captions underneath the pictures totally changed what I thought. When I first looked at the pictures I didn't really know what was going on. Then I saw he was trying to make us see what was going on in our world. I like it as panoramas better because it lets us see it as though we were there. It doesn't scale it down to make it look like a snapshot. We can't see the whole picture in one glance. We have to look over the whole picture like we would in real life. Again I think these pictures are shown in black and white to show their seriousness. Maybe even make them seem older. With these photos I feel like I'm down in the photo. I feel like I am really there looking at the landscape with my own eyes.

It's so neat to see how artists can convey so many different feelings and messages.

Seeing Iraq

It seems that everyone has their own idea and own opinion of the war in Iraq. Some are for it. Some say it's a waste of time and money. To us here in America, Iraq can seem unreal. We can't imagine the violence and destruction over there. For most of us we only hear and see what the news will let us know. With modern technology though, we can see so much more than what the news will let us see. With websites such as You Tube, Iraq can come to life in America.

In the Newsweek article How the U.S. is Losing the PR War in Iraq military spokesmen explain how the war is being broadcast today. It is explained that insurgents are using videos of our soldiers being shot down and killed as a way to inspire new recruits. These are glorified over there. I couldn’t believe that these videos would be glorified over there.

Not only are these videos glorified over in Iraq, but also they show everything. The content on these videos is so much more than we as American's are use to seeing. Technology allows them to get more footage, edit it, and get it out to the world so much quicker than a normal studio. These videos are edited with inspiration music to glorify the act more. This article made me realize how evil these people are. They love killing us. They think it's something to be proud of. I just can't imagine living this way. It makes me really scared and sad for our troops. They are fighting everyday to escape the enemy. These aren't your normal "bad guys" either. They are so much more. They're sick. They love watching us die.

This article opened my mind to how evil and sick the enemy was, but when I watched videos on YouTube of the actual footage, my eyes were open. I watched Ambush on U.S. Marine and I couldn't believe it. The video showed the enemy approaching then killing the Marine. Then it showed the dead, mangled Marine. If that wasn't enough, they then stripped him of his belongings and displayed them as trophies. They even took his Dog Tags. Them taking his Dog Tags really bothered me. That was his identity. That was personal. They have no respect or any sorrow for what they do.

I also found myself getting mad at Hollywood while watching this video too. When they showed the dead Marine, it took me awhile to realize he was dead and this wasn't just a movie. We are so use to seeing this in Hollywood that we don't remember that death and war are real. Once I left my movie mind frame and realized what was really going on I was sick. I was looking at a real fallen soldier. Some one who was fighting for our country and was brutally killed. It made me realize how selfish we can be over here in America. We fight about is the war right, is it wrong, and what to do. While we are bickering about it we have people of all ages dying for us everyday and I think we forget that. We forget just how safe we are. We need to stop bickering and support those who are facing the enemy everyday for us.

911 Reflection

I still remember that dreadful day like it was yesterday. I was at home because Juniors didn't have to go to school that day until noon. I watched in confusion of what had happened and fear of what was to happen. In my lifetime I had never experienced war and it seemed that war was the direction we were heading. Our nation changed a lot that day. Some would say for the better and some would say for the worse. I'm one of those that almost thinks we changed for the better.

Although this tragic event was devastating, it almost united us. It made us stop and think. Go home with our families. Kneel down and pray to a God that is many times forgotten. It stopped our world for a moment to re-prioritize what we were doing with our lives. I think this event made us strong. Made us defensive and strong. They tried to hit us where it would hurt and put us out. They hit us where it hurt, but they did not put us out. As this cartoon says "Cities gleam undimmed by human tears". They hurt us and we cried, but we didn't forget. I love how this cartoon has the stars in the shape of the towers in the night. It just shows that we don't let terrorists rule us. We are united and we cry together and we remember together.

911 was a terrible event for American history, but it united a distant nation. I'm not for the War in Iraq, but I am for the reaction we had. We didn't give in. We stood up and fought. I like that Lady Liberty is in the cartoon as though she is looking over our nation. To me she represents the spunk we have in us. The pride we have. That we won't just sit back, give in, and hide out of fear. This cartoon represents that pride and spunk we have. That yes it was tragic, yes it was sad, but it didn't destroy us. We picked our selves up and got back on the horse and fought. The cartoon reminds me of a commercial that came our around that time. It shows a seen of a neighborhood before 911 and there is only one American Flag. Then it says something about they tried to change us that day and then that neighborhood comes back up. This time though every house has an American Flag and they say " They did". I love it because I'm and optimist and this is the optimistic view point of 911. We survived, we fought through the tears, and we remember together.

Who I am...

My name is Michelle Nicole DeSanto. I was born and raised in Warsaw and will probably remain here for the rest of my life. I have grown up around lakes, so I love to be on/in the water. Pretty much if you want to find me in the summer, look on one of our surrounding lakes.

I am finally on my last year of college! If everything goes as planned I will graduate in May. My major started out being Psychology, but was switched when I was confused what I would do with that. I then decided I wanted to become a Dental Hygienist. Since that is such a competitive program, when I got a C in Chemistry that plan went out the window. I then thought Dental Assisting. Again I did not get into that program either, but landed a great opportunity to get on the job training at a local dentist office. Since my major has changed so many times my final major will be good ol' General Studies with a minor in Psychology.

After graduation I hope to either continue at the dentist office I am currently working at or at another local dentist office. After that I didn't really have any plans until September 2006 when my high school sweetheart proposed! Now I have more plans after graduation! We plan to get married September 29, 2007 at our church in Oswego. Planning has been a little hectic, but exciting. We have been together for 7 1/2 years, so I was starting to wonder if this day would ever come.

Through this last semester I am trying just to stay calm and let things happen. We'll see what happens!