Kertész

André Kertész (1894-1985) was a hungarian photographer. Born in Budapest, after his studies at the Superior Institute of Commerce and his first job at the Stock Exchange, he became interested in photography as an amateur with an Ica camera but, following a fire which destroyed his first films, he gave it up. After moving to Paris in 1925, first he sold photographs for 25 francs each to earn a living, then he started collaborating with magazines such as Berliner Illustrierte, La Nazione, Frankfurter Illustrierte, Time and important reviews such as Bifur and Vu. This is the period to which the photographs of the famous series Distortions and his first volume Enfants (1933) belong. From 1936 he was in New York where he first worked for Keystone and for fashion magazines that did not publish his works because his style was too removed from American taste. In 1949 he started a long and fruitful career with Harper’s Bazaar, Collier’s, Coronet and Vogue America. In 1963 he canceled all his contracts to dedicate his time to personal work. Among several recognitions, he has received a honoris causa degree from the Royal College of Art, and the Légion d’Honneur.