Alfred Eisenstaedt
[Photographer, b. 1898, Dirschau, West Prussia (now Tczew, Poland), d. 1995, New York.]
When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear.
Once the amateur’s naive approach and humble willingness to learn fades away, the creative spirit of good photography dies with it. Every professional should remain always in his heart an amateur.
I will be remembered when I’m in heaven. People won’t remember my name, but they will know the photographer who did that picture of that nurse being kissed by the sailor at the end of World War II. Everybody remembers that.
It’s more important to click with people than to click the shutter.
I don’t like to work with assistants. I’m already one too many; the camera alone would be enough.
My style hasn’t changed much in all these sixty years. I still use, most of the time, existing light and try not to push people around. I have to be as much a diplomat as a photographer. People don’t often take me seriously because I carry so little equipment and make so little fuss... I never carried a lot of equipment. My motto has always been, “Keep it simple.”
Keep it simple.
I see pictures all the time. I could stay for hours and watch a raindrop.