The best photographers, like the best artists, don’t just see things; they feel them. André Kertész belong to that esteemed group. Born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary in 1894, he emerged as one of the most influential practitioners of the medium. Kertész worked intuitively, prizing emotional impact over technique to capture the overlooked and quirky moments of modern urban life in the three cities he lived: Budapest, Paris and New York. In his own words, he tried “to give meaning to everything” with his camera, whether it is people watching a street performance, children playing, or a people going about their business in an ordinary day. Henri Cartier-Bresson said that “Each time André Kertész’s shutter clicks, I feel his heart beating.”
Kertész came from a Jewish middle-class background to a family who expected him to pursue a career in business. Defying his parents’ wish, he moved to Paris in 1925 to soak in the city’s bohemian culture, meeting many famous artists like Piet Mondrian, Marc Chagall, Alexander Calder, and Constantin Brancusi along the way. Inspired by the vibrant artistic community of the French capital, he created some of the most intriguing and celebrated images of the period, including surreal images of distorted figures like Picasso’s women and still life photographs reminiscent of a Cezanne painting.
In 1936 Kertész relocated to New York in order to further his career. Captivated by the rich visual spectacle of the city and awed by its scale, he used the camera to record both his fascination with, and feeling of alienation from, his new surroundings, creating images that juxtaposes the spontaneous with the comic and odd.
Though now hailed as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Kertész’s work was not widely recognized until 1964 when John Sarkowski curated a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art. Twenty years later, he received the French Legion of Honor award. He died in 1985 at the age of 91, leaving behind a legacy that would mark him as one of the pioneers of modern photography.
Selected Works of André Kertész
Budapest, Hungary
France
New York
Other Photographs
