André Kertész

André Kertész (1894-1985) was a Hungary-born photographer distinguished by haunting composition in his photographs and was also a progenitor of the photo essay. In his lifetime, however, his then-unorthodox camera angles which hindered prose descriptions of his works prevented his work from wide recognition. Now Kertész is now recognized as one of the seminal figures of photojournalism.

Born in Budapest, Kertész taught himself how to use a camera and, as part of the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I, had his first photos published. After the war, Kertész emigrated to Paris and became acquainted with members of the Dada movement. One of them dubbed André Kertész "Brother Seeing Eye" for his geometric vision of reality, in which there was more than meets the eye. His greatest journalistic collaboration was with French editor Lucien Vogel, who ran his photographs without explanatory prose.

Later Kertész arrived in the United States, where his photographic style didn't mesh well with the straightforward narrative photography the American public (and magazines) expected. The Condé Nast fashion empire, however, signed Kertész to a long-term contract, and his work in this field ultimately led to his reputation with no small help from the Museum of Modern Art.

Kertész photographs:

• The House of Silence (1929; Trappist monks)