--- description: On the anniversary of photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's death, LIFE celebrates his life and work with 22 unforgettable pictures. title: Alfred Eisenstaedt: 22 Unforgettable Photos by a Master image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e0ae59ebc2d65d0/6987601a35ba6f8df8c045f0/best-of-eisenstaedt-20.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Unforgettable Eisenstaedt: 22 Amazing Photos by a Master by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2014 6:35 PM CUT  Children watch the story of "Saint George and the Dragon" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963. Children watch the story of "Saint George and the Dragon" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2014 6:35 PM CUT Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898–1995), the man behind some of the most memorable pictures of the 20th century, was a professional photographer for almost 70 years. He started working in photography in Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Having fled Nazi Germany in the mid-’30s, he shot for LIFE magazine from its debut in 1936 until it ceased publishing as a weekly in 1972\. After LIFE was shuttered, Eisenstaedt kept photographing until the mid-1990s. Small in stature, dapper, indefatigable—”I cannot believe that any photographer today works as much as I worked in the past,” he told an interviewer in 1993—”Eisie” traveled the world, making indelible portraits of famous people and places, infamous scoundrels and anonymous (but, through his lens, immortalized) men, women and children. “Eisenstaedt never lost his childlike interest in things and people, in what made them what they were,” Robert Andreas wrote in the 2004 book, [_The Great LIFE Photographers_](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-great-life-photographers-the-editors-of-life/1006349538 "undefined"). “He would put his subjects at ease, then get up close and take a few pictures—he didn’t need roll after roll—then it was on to the next person, the next happening, tirelessly pursuing the heart of the matter that he saw so easily and wanted very much for us to see too.” Here, on the anniversary of Eisenstaedt’s death in 1995, LIFE.com celebrates “this little fellow from Germany” (Andreas again) with 22 pictures culled from the hundreds of thousands of photos he shot through the years. Many of these photographs will be familiar to our readers. Some of them are among photography’s most widely recognized, most frequently reproduced images. A few of them might be pictures that you’ve never seen before. But all of them share the unmistakable, deeply humane sensibility that defined the very best work of the man who made them. [\[MORE: “Behind the Picture: Joseph Goebbels Glares at the Camera, Geneva, 1933”\]](http://life.time.com/history/goebbels-in-geneva-1933-behind-a-classic-alfred-eisenstaedt-photo/#1 "undefined") [\[MORE: “‘Hemingway Almost Killed Me’: A LIFE Photographer Remembers”\]](http://life.time.com/culture/hemingway-almost-killed-me-a-life-photographer-remembers/#1 "undefined") [\[MORE: “Marilyn Monroe at Home in Hollywood: Color Portraits, 1953”\]](http://life.time.com/icons/marilyn-monroe-at-home-color-portraits-1953/#1 "undefined")  A man drags a suitcase with a girl sitting on it at a bus terminus in China on Jan. 16, 2014 China Daily—Reuters Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at [@LizabethRonk](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined").  Skating waiter RenŽ Breguet delivers drinks at the Grand Hotel, St. Moritz, 1932. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels glowers at photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt in the garden of the Carlton Hotel during a League of Nations conference, Geneva, September 1933. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  La Scala, Milan, 1934. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ballerinas in a rehearsal room at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, 1936. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Model Janet MacLeod wearing a veiled hat designed by Lilly DachŽ, 1937. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Hedy Lamarr, 1938. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Student nurses line the railings of a stairwell at Roosevelt Hospital, New York, 1938. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mount Rushmore, 1940. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1943. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "In the middle of New York's Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers." V-J Day, 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mother and child in Hiroshima, Japan, December 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Trees in snow, St. Moritz, 1947. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Albert Einstein, Princeton, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The drum major for the University of Michigan marching band high-steps as children follow suit, 1950. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill flashes his signature "V for Victory" sign, 1951. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ernest Hemingway, 1952. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Marilyn Monroe on the patio of her home, 1953. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sen. John F. Kennedy and his daughter Caroline at home after the Democratic Party named him their 1960 presidential candidate, 1960. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackie Kennedy reads to daughter Caroline, Hyannis Port, 1960. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children watch the story of "Saint George and the Dragon" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sophia Loren on set of the movie, Marriage Italian Style, 1964. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  American artist Thomas Hart Benton, 1969. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3491299/unforgettable-eisenstaedt-22-amazing-photos-by-a-master/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3491299/unforgettable-eisenstaedt-22-amazing-photos-by-a-master/"},"headline":"Unforgettable Eisenstaedt: 22 Amazing Photos by a Master","datePublished":"2014-11-03T18:35:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:27.803Z","description":"On the anniversary of photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's death, LIFE celebrates his life and work with 22 unforgettable pictures.","url":"https://time.com/3491299/unforgettable-eisenstaedt-22-amazing-photos-by-a-master/","keywords":["John F. Kennedy","New York","Times Square","photography","Winston Churchill","paris","alfred eisenstaedt","Ben Cosgrove","Liz Ronk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e0ae59ebc2d65d0/6987601a35ba6f8df8c045f0/best-of-eisenstaedt-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e0ae59ebc2d65d0/6987601a35ba6f8df8c045f0/best-of-eisenstaedt-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Children watch the story of \"Saint George and the Dragon\" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963.","caption":"Children watch the story of \"Saint George and the Dragon\" at an outdoor puppet theater in Paris, 1963.","creditText":"Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3491299/unforgettable-eisenstaedt-22-amazing-photos-by-a-master/","name":"Unforgettable Eisenstaedt: 22 Amazing Photos by a Master"}}]}] ```