Edith Shain passed away

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"Who is Edith Shain?" you say. She is the woman in Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous kiss photograph on V-J Day (victory over Japan) in Times Square. She died this week at age 91. Eisenstaedt passed away in 1999, leaving a huge void. Slowly the greatest generation is passing into history.
Eisenstaedt has always been my favorite photographer. I try to emulate his style with every snap but of course fall far short.


Eisenstaedt was the ground breaking photo journalist everyone else followed. He did it all. This was also at a time when he had to struggle with crap for equipment, improvising as he went.

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This shot of a waiter on skates illustrates Eisenstaedt's ingenuity. He took this picture in 1932. He wanted to photograph this waiter skating but he had a problem. The camera he was using was slow, cumbersome and limited. I don't recall exactly which brand he was using, most likely a Leica. At any rate, back then there was no such thing as "auto focus" and even manual focus was slow and cumbersome.

Hence the chair. Eisenstaedt placed the chair and focused on it. Then as the waiter came even with the chair, he snapped the picture. Remember that the next time you bitch about your equipment!

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This picture of a fallen soldier brings home the reality and humanity of war. This photo is always with me and accounts for my penchant to get in close when photographing anything.

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This is the magic image that is so amazing and riveting. Alfred Eisenstaedt shot this picture at a puppet show. I think it's absolutely priceless.

You can find books on Eisenstaedt's work on Amazon.com. You can buy a lot worse and  you won't learn as much as you can studying Eisenstaedt's images. They are haunting, beautiful, shocking and amazing.

If you like the post then please use the provided links for your shopping. Stay safe and have a fun time with your camera.

Don't forget to write me if you have any tips, or news. I like to hear from you!

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