1. Maria Eisner was an Italian-American photographer, photo editor and photo agent.
12 Facts About Maria Eisner
1. 2.
Maria Eisner was one of the founders of Magnum Photos, and the first head of its Paris office.
3.
Maria Eisner's Jewish parents had emigrated to the USA in 1886, were naturalised 1891, lived in Nebraska, then briefly in Milan in 1896 where Maria was born in 1909.
4.
From October 1935, Gerda Taro sold pictures for Alliance Photo then started working for the agency as a photographer, and introduced the fictitious American Capa to Alliance in the hope of higher royalties, but Maria Eisner recognised his imagery and offered him a lower monthly advance of 1,100 francs in return for covering three assignments a week, of which 500 francs were used for expenses.
5.
Maria Eisner's particularity was to propose subjects to the editors without waiting for their request and she promoted her photographers as authors, demanding that their shots be credited in a by-line.
6.
At Alliance Photo, Maria Eisner established an indexing system for the long-term conservation of, and credit for, its photographers' pictures.
7.
Maria Eisner was one of the founders of Magnum Photos; the only one with any previous experience in such a venture.
8.
Maria Eisner was crucial to its success, bringing essential skills in organising and marketing the work of multiple photographers, and responsible for establishing the archives and working methods in the offices, including the use of contact sheets.
9.
When in 1950 a merger was proposed with the New York agency Scope, Maria Eisner balked and the idea was shelved.
10.
Maria Eisner recruited the Swiss Werner Bischof and the American Ernst Haas for Magnum.
11.
Maria Eisner became pregnant with her son Richard in 1951.
12.
Maria Eisner died on 8 March 1991 at her home in Manhattan aged 82 years, survived by her husband and son.