1894 - 1985
André Kertész, was a Hungarian-born photographer. His contributions to photo-journalism and with his sense of composition set him apart as a master.
He was never tried to give meaning to his subjects but rather capture them in a quiet yet overlooked incident. Even though these images were of ordinary scenes he juxtapositions them in a surreal manner. He used, as 'Eiffel tower shadows', unusual and unexpected angles that seem like a personal view. Away in which he draws the viewer into the image, leaving an image of the real world in a very surreal way.
Meudon, 1928
This image is quite possibly one of the most iconic and discussed photographs that exist. Kertész visited Meudon, a quiet french town, and took two photographs. On a return visit to the town he took this mesmerising photograph. By taking the picture at exactly this moment, Kertész provides us with more than just an instant of a street. The mysterious man in the foreground, his stare is right down the camera lens but what is he carrying? Then attention is drawn right to the top of the viaduct with a train passing. The subjects are framed by the building facades. I think here, shown by the buildings, his photograph is his relationship with surrealism. Many parallels have been made between this image and Giorgio De Chirico's 'The Soothsayer's Recompense'.
The image echos Kertész's realism and showing us an image full of questions and visual puzzles. He shows us a decisive moment which, in his way, is not about that exact moment, its not about freezing time. It is about what wonder and emotion the foreground figure, the subjects in the street and the train create in their movements through the image.
Distortion, 1933
Kertész express this concept through an elaborate processes of distortion. He does so with the female nude. His nudes are a commentary on the sublimate beauty and harmony of the female form. And also an ironic take on the persistent representation of women as sexual objects. In 1933 Kertész is offered a concept cover for the french magazine Vu. He creates the series “Distortions”. It includes 200 female nudes that are the result of optical experiments with reflections and mirrors. In this article Kertész becomes the master of photo-journalism and he literally wants to write with light.
