Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Vj day kiss.jpg

Alfred Eisenstaedt was a German Jew, photographer and photojournalist. He is known for his candid photographs, best known for his photographs capturing the V-Day Celebration. Eisenstaedt lived and worked very successfully in Germany as a photographer before WWII broke out. He was well-known for his skills and even took photographs of a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini of Italy. But when the war broke out his escaped to New York where he lived until he died in 1994. He was able to get a job with LIFE magazine. He had over 90 of his photographs displayed on the front page of the magazine over the course of his 36 year long career with the company. Without a doubt though, his most recognized work took place on V-J Day. He went out onto Times Square with his camera and was able to photograph a sailor kissing a girl as people were celebrating. It showed the excitement and enthusiasm that the entire country had for winning the war. His photos have a movement and energy to them that most photographs dont. When you look at his work you can hear the sound of the cheering and laughter. Its not just a photograph, its a thousand words.

Robert Doisneau

"The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."- Doisneau

French kiss
Le baiser de l’hotel de ville.

Robert Doisneau was a French photographer. He passed away in 1997. Hes one of Frances most well known and recognizable photographers. Hes known for his playful, light-hearted style. What I enjoy most about Doisneau's work is that he rarely takes serious pictures. Most of his work is taken on the streets of Paris of everyday people. Kids playing with mothers watching close by. He captures the world in action. There is no deeper meaning behind the frame. I believe sometimes people get carried away. Everything always has to have a purpose. It cant just bring someone joy and i feel that he does that, without asking for anything more. He's just celebrating life.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Dorothea Lange




I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it.


Dorothea Lange's photographs are some of the most influential work of all time. She began her career by opening a portrait studio but once the Great Depression began she decided to head outdoors to capture what people were going through. Shes known for her photography The Migrant Mother and is almost always used to depict the Great Depression in history books.



Dorothea Lange was a natural photographer. She could look at something as simple or as boring as a clothes line and make it seem beautiful and magical. I find her mesmerizing. I think that she is a real, honest to God Hero.

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people
how to see without a camera."