Modern-day photography owes a huge debt to the Hungarians who wrote a new chapter in the cultural history of the 20th century. André Kertész, Brassaï, László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi and Robert Capa left their homeland and changed their names to earn worldwide fame as pioneers of photojournalism, fashion photography and Surrealism. With their unique eye, they changed the face of this new art. As Capa put it, reversing the famous Hollywood dictum: “It is not enough to have talent. You also have to be Hungarian”.
André Kertész (Andor Kertész, 1894-1985) set the standard for using a handheld camera, developing a distinctive visual language with his poetic images of Paris street life, often from high vantage points involving unusual juxtapositions, reflections and shadows. He is also notable for his portraits of famous artists, including Chagall, and was a pivotal figure in artistic photojournalism.
Kertész persuaded Brassaï (Gyula Halász 1899-1984) to take up photography when the pair met in Paris. Brassaï gained overnight fame with his images depicting the French capital by night, the first artist to capture its essence since Toulouse-Lautrec. His portraits included Dalí, Picasso and Matisse. Often commissioned by Harper’s Bazaar, Brassaï had his own exhibition at New York’s MOMA.
László Moholy-Nagy (Weisz László, 1895-1946) reconfigured abstract artistic media with multidisciplinary practices. At the Bauhaus School in Germany, he carried out experiments with light, space and form, before becoming director of the New Bauhaus graduate school in Chicago. Claiming that photography could create a new way of seeing the world, he is also associated with the photogram.
Martin Munkácsi (Munkácsi Márton, 1896-1963) revolutionised fashion photography, taking his models outside the studio to shoot in a natural environment. His were the first fashion shots of people in motion. Renowned in America, Munkácsi created groundbreaking portraits of Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Louis Armstrong. His Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika inspired Henri Cartier-Bresson to pick up his famous Leica.
“If your photographs aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough,” said Robert Capa (Endre Ernő Friedmann, 1913-1954), pioneer of war photography and co-founder of the Magnum agency. During his short but legendary lifetime, Capa covered five wars first-hand, earning him the epithet of being the best conflict photographer of all time. Always close enough to capture history as it happened, Capa famously photographed The Falling Soldier, depicting the very moment of death.
Other eminent Hungarian photographers include Lucien Hervé (Elkán László), notable for his architectural photography with a humanist outlook, and Ata Kandó (Görög Etelka), who depicted refugees during Hungary’s 1956 Revolution. Photo essays by Sylvia Plachy, mother of Oscar-winning actor Adrian Brody, appeared in The New Yorker and other top publications.
Those looking for challenging photography in Budapest should head to Nagymező Street, home of the Mai Manó House, set in the studio created by Habsburg court photographer Mai Manó, and the Capa Center, inspired by the photographer of the same name.
