Marcel Sternberger (1899-1956) was one of the masters of 20th Century photography. His many subjects included giants of the day such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Indira Gandhi, Nehru, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, George Bernard Shaw, Stefan Zweig, and the Shah of Iran. His portrait of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reproduced as the face of the American dime. Sternberger’s photographs appeared in newspapers around the globe, on book covers and postage stamps, and in official portraits used by everyone from world leaders to Hollywood stars. He pioneered the psychological portrait, revealing the inner emotions of even the most recalcitrant of sitters. His technique was flawless. His portraits of both prominent and everyday subjects display not only emotional depth, but technical perfection. They are featured on this site, on exhibition, and in the 2016 book, The Psychological Portrait: Marcel Sternberger’s Revelations in Photography.

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