Personal Backround
André Kertész was born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1894 and studied at the Academy of Commerce. This made him decide to buy his first camera in 1912. He had his first photo published in 1915. He also served in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. He then moved to Paris, where he did freelance work for many European publications, including: Vu, Le Matin, Frankfurter Illustrierte, Die Photographie, La Nazione Firenze, and even The Times of London. He bought his first 35-millimeter camera, a Leica, in 1928. In 1936, he came to the United States, and began freelancing. He worked here until he died in 1962 in New York.
Style
All of his photographs are black and white. Also, all of his pictures have lots of shadow in them, which make them look really cool in my opinion. The majority of his pictures are of objects or landscape. His landscape is mainly of cities, so he is almost like an architect photographer. His photos of objects like the ones I recreated are very simple, and makes them look nice, with not too much going on. His object photos look like sketches in pencil, with a shadow so strong that it almost looks fake.
Philosophy
Andre Kertesz photos didn't have one common theme that they shared. His photos all seemed to be of usual events or objects, nothing much. However, the way he has no lighting in the majority of his photos, and only black and white gives this dark, creepy feeling. Also, his dark shadows that he uses in all of his pictures definitely make his photography seem even more creepy. I think that he was aiming for this effect and he did a very good job of it.
Influences
I really liked his black and white photography and the way that it made all of his photos flow together. Next year if I take another photography class I will definitely try to take more black and white photography. My favorite thing that he did was take pictures with so much shadow in them. His shadow photography was super cool. He is definitely the best shadow photographer that I have seen yet.
Sources
1. The Fork http://www.brucesilverstein.com/artists/andre-kertesz 2.Bowl With Sugar Cubes https://huxleyparlour.com/video-andre-kertesz-fork/ 3. Untitled (Egg Beater) . http://yasminfahphotography.blogspot.com/2015/09/andre-kertesz.html |
Compare and Contrast
The Fork"Sugar Cube" BowlEgg Beater |
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Personal Artist Statements
For image 1, (the fork on the plate): I've eaten with this fork and 6 identical ones for my whole life. The set of forks is a family set that has been passed down for two generations. I personally don't think that they are cool at all; they're literally a normal set of forks, nothing interesting. Image 2 ( bowl with crackers): I probably eat a pound of ice cream a week with this bowl. Also, the crackers inside taste amazing! For the egg beater (image 3), I've used this a million times in my life to make almost any food that you can think of.