Alfred Eisenstaedt
Photography was in the air

An undisputed protagonist of twentieth-century photography, Alfred Eisenstaedt is the focus of Photography Was in the Air, a major exhibition project curated by Monica Poggi, produced by CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia and organized by the Municipality of Abano Terme together with D’Uva, manager of MUNAV, which offers a multifaceted reinterpretation through two complementary exhibitions held across two museums located just a few kilometers apart: Museo Villa Bassi Rathgeb in Abano Terme (Padua) and the Museo Storico Navale in Venice.

The project invites visitors to rediscover an author who played a decisive role in shaping the language of photojournalism. The title echoes Eisenstaedt’s own reflection on post–World War I Germany, a period marked by extraordinary cultural vitality—within this context the photographer developed his vision and began his career.

Raised in a climate of intense creative ferment, suspended between the legacy of painting and the emerging possibilities of reportage, Eisenstaedt worked across 1920s Europe and 1930s United States, where he settled in 1935. There, he became one of the leading contributors to Life magazine. Over a collaboration spanning more than thirty years, he produced over 2,500 photo essays and more than 90 covers, playing a key role in shaping the visual imagination of the twentieth century.

Best known for the photograph taken on August 14, 1945, in Times Square—V-J Day in Times Square—which captures the spontaneous kiss between a sailor and a nurse during celebrations marking the end of World War II, Eisenstaedt explored an extraordinary range of subjects throughout his career, constructing a visual narrative that spans the major historical and cultural turning points of the century.

From his lucid documentation of interwar Europe— at a moment of heightened tension preceding the rise of Nazism, also captured in his famous portrait of Joseph Goebbels—to more intimate and lyrical subjects such as dance and theatre, observed with an almost painterly sensitivity, Eisenstaedt’s work in the United States increasingly focused on contemporary society, portrayed with growing irony and dynamism. His reportages in Ethiopia and Japan further expanded the scope of his research, engaging with conflicts, reconstruction, and profound social transformations.

Completing his body of work are the celebrated portraits of leading figures in politics, science, and entertainment—from Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer to Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren— which demonstrate his ability to establish an immediate and direct rapport with his subjects.

Held across two venues, the exhibition stems from a collaborative project that highlights the dialogue between institutions and territories—an initiative that brings international photography back into the spotlight, reviving even today that atmosphere of energy and innovation which, as the title suggests, continues to be “in the air.”

Cover: © Alfred Eisenstaedt / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock

Curated by Monica Poggi

Promoted by Municipality of Abano Terme

In collaboration with Museo Storico Navale, Venice – Ministero della Difesa, Marina Militarie Italiana, Difesa Servizi S.r.l. | concessionaire D’Uva S.r.l.

Produced by CAMERA — Italian Center for Photography

Press office and communication Lara Facco P&C

Catalog Dario Cimorelli Editore available in the museum bookshop