“It was a beautiful August afternoon, and I was working on taking a photograph of the Gay Head Cliffs with just the right light. While I was photographing, I saw two sailboats far across the Vineyard Sound near Cuttyhunk. I decided to wait and see if the boats would come near the cliffs on their way to Menemsha. After several hours, one of the boats did approach the cliffs and I was able to take this photograph moments before it disappeared behind the cliffs. I remember setting up a tripod and using my Leica with a 400-mm lens.

“As I was taking this photograph, a father and his son who had a camera were standing nearby. I overheard the father say to his son, ‘the famous photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt would probably love to take a photograph of this.’ I walked up to the man and told him I was Alfred Eisenstaedt, but he didn’t believe me! I even took out my wallet and showed him my identification, and all the man did was get angry with me and walk off with his son. I could never understand why he behaved so.”

– Alfred Eisenstaedt, MVM Summer 1988