André Kertész

[Andor Kertész ] (Budapest, 2 July 1894 – New York, 28 September 1985)

He graduated from a commercial high school in 1912 and then went to work at the Budapest Stock Exchange. He used his first salary to buy an ICA box camera, becoming an autodidact photographer. His friend Lászlу Chmura advised him on developing his pictures. In late 1914 he was enlisted; he took a Voigtlander in his pocket to the front. It was during the war that he took his first two pictures to be published in magazines. In 1927, he moved to Paris, exchanging the life of a Hungarian clerk for that of a Parisian artist. It was here that he achieved success with his profoundly humanist, subjective and unique style – a style that has rendered him one of the greatest photo-artists of all time. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said: “Whatever we have done, Kertész did first.” As a Hungarian emigre in Paris, Kertész worked for magazines such as Vu, Sunday Times (London), Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, and Uhu. He encouraged both Brassaп and Robert Capa to try their hand at photography. Kertész’s first exhibition was held in Paris in the Sacre du Printemps Gallery in 1927. In 1936, he travelled to America at the behest of Keystone Studios. He intended to stay just a few months, but the outbreak of war kept him there. From 1937 until 1949 he worked as a freelance photographer, receiving assignments from Look, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue. In 1944 he became a U.S. citizen. From 1963 until his death, he devoted himself to sorting out and publishing his life’s work, while continuing to take photographs. His work became highly acclaimed and he received many awards. During a 1984 visit to Hungary, Kertész  received the Order of the Flag of the Hungarian People’s Republic. He is the first and only photographer thus far to have received this prestigious award. Following his death in New York, the André Kertész Photo Museum opened in Szigetbecse.