André Kertész: Walking in the Picture
André Kertész: Walking in the Picture
The visions of André Kertész (1894-1985) are considered among those to have opened up new paths in photography in the 20th century. Using the Leica, which he was one of the first to tame, Kertész opened up new photographic issues and positions, leaving behind images that inspired the next generations of photographers.
Throughout this book/exhibition, we discover the historical information contained in the margins of his films and re-establish the lost chronology of his Paris works.
The exhibition “André Kertész, marcher dans l’image” curated by Cédric de Veigy was presented for the first time at the Maison de la Photographie de Gentilly, from 22 November 2019 to 9 February 2020.
It is co-produced by the Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine and the Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau, equipment of EPT Grand-Orly Seine Bièvre,
with the collaboration of Stimultania – Strasbourg, L’Imagerie – Lannion, Hôtel Fontfreyde – Clermont-Ferrand and the Musée de la Photographie – Charleroi.
All the André Kertész negatives reproduced in this book are kept by the Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Charenton-le-Pont.
Kertész had a Leica since 1930. With this camera, the eye of the photographer no longer focuses on the frosted glass but is projected into a frame that is juxtaposed to his field of vision. A viewfinder of a new kind allows the eye to look for its bearings in the image while the body takes its support in space.
By taking this camera in the streets of Paris, suburban vacant plots and country roads, Kertész invents in a few seasons a process that will pave the way for many photographers’ vocations: the photographic stroll. “I took a few steps with it, and I got the picture,” he simply summarizes in front of one of his photos.
A recent and unpublished study on the original negatives preserved by the Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine has made it possible to reconstitute for the first time the chronological continuity of images that the photographer took in 1930 and 1936 with his Leica. Fruit of this research, this exhibition presented at Maison Doisneau, accompanied by a reference book published by André Frère, proposes to go back to these moments and to observe the few steps of Kertész with those he photographs.
(via L’Oeil de la Photographie)
André Kertész : Marcher dans l’image
November 22, 2019 – February 9, 2020
Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau
1, rue de la Division du Général Leclerc
94250 Gentilly, France
