Andre KerteszBriana Montoya

-André Kertész was Hungarian-born American photographer known for magazine photography in Look, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.

-He captured modern urban life with its overlooked incidents and odd, occasionally comic, or even bizarre juxtapositions.

-He wanted "to give meaning to everything” with his camera, "to make photographs as by reflection in a mirror, unmanipulated and direct as in life."

Chez Mondrian 1926

Silver gelatin 3.25 x 4

-Kertesz was not a surrealist, nor a strict photojournalist. He nevertheless infused his best images with both.

-"You don't see" the things you photograph, he explained, "you feel them."

Biography

-Kertész was born July 2, 1894, in Budapest, Hungary

-Original name Andor Kohn

-He received his first camera in 1912 and began to make portraits of family and friends, studies of the Hungarian countryside, and scenes of daily life behind the battle lines of World War I.

-He moved in 1925 to Paris, where he established a successful career as a photojournalist.

Biography (continued)

-1936 Kertész relocated to New York in order to further his career.

-He used the camera to record both his fascination and sense of alienation from his new surroundings.

-He retired from commercial work in 1962 and began a series of personal projects.

-He died September 27, 1985 at age ninety-one in New York City

- Married Erzsebet (Elizabeth) Salamon

Andre Ketresz always had his camera with him

Interviewer: Did you take a camera with you everywhere?

Kertesz: “Yes. So there I was, in the front line, lugging the plate negatives around in a metal case. The other lads said I was crazy. “Why?” I asked. “If I come out of this alive, then I’ll develop them; if I don’t, I won’t.” My kid brother had a great idea. Take 9 x 12 cm plates with you, he said, and cut them in four.”

Under the Eiffel Tower 1929

Silver Gelatin Print3.5 x 4

“I like high shots. If you are on the same level, you lose many things.” – André Kertész

His street photography was unique from most because of the high levels he used

Circus, Budapest1920-printed, 1950

Silver print9.25 x 7.5

Distortion #441933

Silver Gelatin Print3.5 x 4

Pont des Arts, Paris1929-printed, 1960

Silver print13.69 x 10.75

Broken Plate

1929, printed 1982

Silver Gelatin Print

16 x 20 

“In this picture of Montmartre, I was just testing a new lens for a special effect. When I went to America, I left most of my material in Paris, and when I returned I found sixty percent of the glass-plate negatives were broken. This one I saved, but it had a hole in it. I printed it anyway. An accident helped me produce a beautiful effect.”

André Kertész

Modrians Glasses and Pipe1929

Les Mains de ma Mere1919

Still Life, Paris 1926

The Lost Cloud, New York1937; print- 1970

Meudon, France1928

Emulation

Fork, Paris1960

Silver Gelatin Print

10.75 x 13.69

Emulation

Stairs of Montmartre, Paris 1925

Citations"About Andre Kertesz." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

"Andre Kertesz/ Bibliography & Images." Atget Photography.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Milton, Keith. "Photographers Gallery - Photographs by Andre Kertesz." Photographers Gallery - Photographs by Andre Kertesz. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

"André Kertész (Getty Museum)." The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.