Hoping to establish himself as a portrait photographer by creating a series of images of famous Russian and German Jewish expatriates, Vishniac contacted Albert Einstein and asked to take his portrait in late 1941, shortly after he arrived with his family in the United States. The Nobel Laureate sat for a series of photographs in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study while smoking a pipe, writing at his desk, having his portrait painted, and working on equations on the blackboard. The portraits, which Einstein later declared among his favorites, have been widely reproduced and were published as a portfolio in the 1970s.

For all uses of photographs by Roman Vishniac contact ICP at: vishniac_archive@icp.org.