André Kertész in New York

Born in Hungary in 1894, André Kertész bought his first camera at 19 years old and began to take pictures with no training: street scenes, family, soldiers in the army where he was mobilised. His first photos were published in Hungary but his collection of Hungarian negatives were destroyed in 1918.

At 29 years old, he moved to Paris where he would meet surrealists and Dadaists without necessarily adhering to these movements. To him we owe, during this period, portraits of artists, still life and compositions. He worked for numerous magazines and reviews and was noticed for a series of nude photos, taken through deforming mirrors, titled Les Distorsions.

In 1936 he left for the USA, lived in New York where he continued to work for the press, took American nationality but lived through hard times and felt misunderstood. It was only from the 1960s that he was really recognized, exhibited and rewarded in Venice, Paris, New York, Stockholm, Budapest, London, Tokyo... at the time when he dedicated himself to photography for his own pleasure. Before dying, at 91 years old in New York, he gave all his negatives and correspondence to France.