Option 2

The photographer I have chosen to do my essay on is Alfred Eisenstaedt. The reason for my choice is because famous photojournalists have always been able to capture the essence of an event, but Alfred Eisenstaedt could capture truly candid photographs. I am a big fan of candid photographs and capturing the moment.

 The first picture I have chosen is one of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s most famous photograph called "VJ Day" which was taken in 1945.

"I saw a sailor running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight." he explained. "Whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn't make any difference. I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder...Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse." "People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture." (http://www.artscenecal.com)

I like this picture because it was a moment caught in time. Many photographers have tried to duplicate this image but there will always be just 1 original.

The photograph I have taken in relation to the one above is of my grandmother at our family cottage.

The reason I have chosen this picture is because it has great meaning to it. She is standing on the land of the cottage her late husband built by hand. The way she is standing and looking out into the distance shows her pride and love she has for not only her cottage but for her husband. Just like the photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, there is so much love shown in each picture. By looking at these two Photographs you can not only see the love but you can feel it. Along with the amount of love in these pictures you can feel the hardships each person has gone through. In Alred’s photograph there is sailor that had come out of the subway at Times Square, where people were celebrating in the streets. Excited that his brother, who was being held by the Japanese as a prisoner of war, would be released. A nurse saw him, and opened her arms to him. He ran over to her and kissed her. The sailor went through a lot knowing that his brother was held hostage from the Japanese. Just like the sailor my grandmother experienced a lot of hardships when my grandfather passed. She had to learn how to do things on her own and learn to ask people for help when she needed it.

The next picture I have chosen is “English Bulldog at Morris and Essex Dog Show".

I chose this picture after reading an article about how Alfred was an “aim and shoot” photographer. He would see something that intrigued him, aim his camera and shoot.

          This is a picture of my dog Mia. The reason I took this picture was because I was inspired by reading the article and seeing the picture of the Bulldog, I went out and took some “aim and shoot” photographs. This one stood out the most not only because it is of a dog much like the one above, but because it shows how the simplest of things can make a picture such as the sudden gust of wind. In both pictures of the dogs you can see the innocence in both of these canines.

          The third picture I have chosen is of the beautiful Marilyn Monroe taken by Eisenstaedt in 1953.

Chose this picture simply because of not on her beauty but of the message Alfred was try to reveal. We all know that Marilyn was a beautiful woman and most of the pictures we see of her on the internet are of her in skimpy outfits. In this picture she is covered by a simple black turtleneck. I believe Alfred’s message through this picture is that you don’t have to be dressed in less then a piece of cloth to be beautiful. I feel that Alfred Eisenstaedt did an amazing job at capturing true beauty.

          This is not a picture of a painting I did not to long ago of the gorgeous Marilyn. Although my painting skills are not as good as Alfred’s photography skills, I really loved this painting because it was just simple black paint on a plain white canvas embellished by her red lips and a jewel as her beauty mark. Just like Alfred’s photograph this is a picture of her beauty. Beauty without the revealing clothes; just true, effortless beauty.

The next picture I have chosen from Alfred’s line of work is called “Forest Shadow”.

When I cam across this picture online it reminded me of one I took a few years ago at a leadership camp.

          The reason why Alfred’s picture reminded me of the one I took was because not only was it of the way the sunlight just so naturally gives the pictures a certain glow. Sunlight can transform a photograph into a beautiful creation.

          The last picture I have chosen for this assignment is one of my favourites because it has a lot of meaning behind it. “Children at Puppet Theatre” was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1963.

          The picture inspired me to do some digging in my old photos and find one of my grandfather.

The reason I chose this picture was because much like the photograph above there is so much youthfulness. The one above by Eisenstaedt is a picture of kids enjoying a puppet show. Their facial expressions are what makes the picture. They are enjoying their care free life being kids. The photograph I took of my grandfather relates to the one by Alfred because I believe that his smile brings the feeling of youthfulness to the photo much like Eisenstaedt’s.

“Your never fully dressed without a smile.” – Martin Charnin