Andre Kertesz
Andre Kertesz
André Kertész, born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition. Kertész never felt that he had gained the worldwide recognition he deserved. Today he is considered one of the seminal figures of photojournalism. The Estate of André Kertész is represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery New York, NY...
NationalityHungarian
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth2 July 1894
Photography is my only language.
If you want to write you should learn the alphabet. You write and write and in the end you hava a beautiful, perfect alphabet. But it isn’t the alphabed that is important. The important thing is what you are writing, what you are expressing. The same thing goes for photography. Photographs can be technically perfect and even beautiful, but they have no expression.
For this very reason I refuse all the tricks of the trade and professional virtuosity which could make me betray my career. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record it truthfully. Look at the reporters and at the amateur photographer! They both have only one goal; to record a memory or a document. And that is pure photography.
Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph
Everything is a subject. Every subject has a rhythm. To feel it is the raison d'être. The photograph is a fixed moment of such a raison d'être, which lives on in itself.
I can't talk about my style. It us kind of difficult for me. I don't like styles. I only like taking photos and expressing myself through them.
My talent lies in the fact that I cannot touch a camera without expressing myself.
Everything is a subject. Every subject has a rhythm. To feel it is the raison detre. The photograph is a fixed moment of such a raison detre, which lives on in itself.
Two seconds are a thousand years.
I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way for the rest of my life.
The moment always dictates in my work. What I feel, I do. This is the most important thing for me. Everybody can look, but they don't necessarily see. I never calculate or consider; I see a situation and I know that it's right, even if I have to go back to get the proper lighting.
I am not a surrealist. I am only a realist. All this group - surrealists - use my name. No, no, I am realist.
Of course a picture can lie, but only if you are not honest with yourself...
Technique isn't important. Technique is in the blood. Events and mood are more important than good light and the happening is what is important