Last week, I attended a field trip to the Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College with my English 2100 class. I got a chance to actually see some really amazing photographs, all taken by the photographer Marcel Sternberger, who work was actually curated by Jacob Loewentheil after Sternberger’s death in a fatal car accident in 1952. From this visit, I was able to take a glance at photographs of very famous and well-known world figures from different perspectives due to Sternberger’s photographic style of trying to capture his models’ personality.

I learned a lot about Sternberger’s determination for getting historically famous people to agree to model for him. One important example was George Bernard Shaw, who wasn’t the least interested in having his picture taken and was very condescending towards Sternberger. After many failed attempts, Shaw finally agreed to model for him, portraying a very serious attitude throughout the entire session as he saw this as futile. Sternberger was also able to photograph two iconic figures of Spanish history, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, who were married artists. It was nice to see them being portrayed as a loving couple instead of just having them pose unemotionally in front of the camera. He was also an acquaintance of famed physicist Albert Einstein, engaging in a friendly conversation with him throughout the session and ending up with pictures of the genius Einstein as an amusing and lovable average guy.

What was really amazing to learn about Sternberger’s photographs is the amount of equipment he used- or rather the lack of equipment he used. While other photographers used super professional cameras, he relied on his Leica flagship 35mm model camera. This allowed him to have his pictures being taken at different angles and to move more freely when doing so., allowing his portraits to reflect that unique style that has been displayed for years to come.