André Kertész

Born Kertész Andor in Budapest, Austria-Hungary on July 2, 1894, André Kertész purchased his first camera while working as a clerk at the Budapest stock exchange in 1912. He spent years taking amateur snapshots in Hungary and then moved to Paris in 1925. He began his career as a freelance photographer and soon established a successful career as a photojournalist. Kertész relocated to New York in 1936 to further his career, working as a freelance photographer for American magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, and others. Yet the steady work left him frustrated and unhappy, taking time away from his personal projects. From 1947 to 1962, he worked under an exclusive contract with Condé Nast as a staff photographer for House and Garden. It was only after he quit Condé Nast that he began receiving public attention for his work. He held a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York from 1964-65, a Guggenheim fellowship in 1974, and a retrospective at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, 1977-78; among others. Kertész died in 1985 in New York City.

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André Kertész is featured in Edition: The Best of the Met