Shoeshine, Salonique, 1934
Vintage gelatin silver print
6 ½ × 9 ½ in.
Signed, notated, and stamped on verso
July 21, 2025
The bright-eyed boy in the foreground radiates youthful optimism, and looks like he was ready to be crowned king of the world (or at least this city block), just as soon his shoeshine was wrapped up. German-born Alfred Eisenstadt was known for taking pictures like this one, that allowed their human subjects to take the spotlight, and tell a story.
This photo was made in 1934, in the Greek port city of Thessaloniki, while Eisenstadt was covering global events as a freelance photographer for the Berlin office of the Associated Press. A year later he joined the many Jews fleeing the rise of Fascism in Germany, and emigrated to the United States, where he began a long career as one of the first staff photographers for LIFE Magazine.
The French were dominant in culture and cartography in the early 20th century, so this vintage print is notated on the back with the standard Western European name for Thessaloniki during this time, the French translation: "Salonique".
