This week, we visited the Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College. It was wonderful experience. I learned a lot about the photograph Marcel Sternberger. Marcel Sternberger was born in 1889 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the private photographer to the Royal Family of Belgium. Soon after, he moved to London in 1938 where he photographed Sigmund Freud, George Bernard Shaw and others. Sadly in 1952, Marcel Sternberger was killed in a car accident. Marcel Sternberger’s work was curated by Jacob Loewentheil.

The main thing I enjoyed the most about the gallery is the presence of many well-known people. For example, Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics before and after independence. Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman and central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was the first and the only female Prime Minister of India following her father. This really interests me because I have previous knowledge about the history of India. Sternberger captured the former Prime Ministers in their prime. Personally, I felt very connected to this part of the gallery because it had to do with my Indian roots.

Other photographs that stood out to me are the pictures of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. These are very prominent figures in Spanish history. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are married and both are painters. In Spanish class, we discussed the meaning and intentions of the self-portraits Kahlo painted. This was a perfect moment to see Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in a different light. Another thing I enjoyed to see was the camera Marcel Sternberger used to take these photographs. It is very small compared to the technology and cameras we have today. The presenter explained how Sternberger preferred the smaller cameras so he could move freely and capture candid photos. This made a lot of sense to me because the main reason Sternberger was doing this was to capture the natural essence of these people.