André Kertész (1894–1985) is another photographer whose work you should (re)discover in this blog post series on photographers you need to check out. Kertész was born in Budapest, Hungary and started making photographs as a teenager. In 1925, while in his early thirties, he moved to Paris France where he worked as a freelance photographer/photojournalist for himself and for photo magazines. He gained notoriety for his fresh style and interesting compositions, was published in multiple magazines and self published multiple books of his photography. In addition, he had several exhibitions of his work.

About a decade later he moved to the USA where he spent the rest of his working life working as a photographer. He was on exclusive contract with Condé Nast magazine for many years and he always devoted time to his personal work and projects. In his later years he spent a lot of time experimenting with Polaroid photography.

I’ve always admired Kertész’s work because of his attention to the elements that make up a good photograph. For Kertész, the story of a photograph is crafted from everyday people and objects but he managed to make whatever he photographed stand out. He used light, angles, compositions, juxtapositions as well experimenting with alternative photographic techniques to create interesting moods and tell interesting visual stories.

André Kertész — The Fork — 1928

André Kertész — Pont des Arts, Paris — 1929

André Kertész — Distortion #40 — 1933

André Kertész — Melancholic Tulip — 1939

André Kertész — Self portrait — Martinique — 1972

André Kertész — Polaroid — August 13, 1979

Additional André Kertész resources and links:

Wikipedia -  André Kertész
Kertész on Photography-now.net — (click the grey link that says Selected Work — over 30 images)
Kertész on Artnet
Kertész’s portfolio at The Stephen Bulger gallery in Toronto, Ontraio

I’m starting a new category in this blog for photographers that I think are worth checking out. I’ll start off with photographers that have been around awhile and I’ll write a few paragraphs, show a few pics and offer additional links to whet your photographic appetites. Let’s start off with Nan Goldin.

Nan Goldin is a contemporary American photographer born in 1953 currently living in NYC, USA and I’ve been following her work for a over 2 decades. If I were forced to describe her work I’d write that Goldin is a ‘moment-photojournalist’. She both captures and creates intimate moments of the people in her life and it’s hard not to have an opinion about her photography. If you have never heard of her, research her two most famous photo books (The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, Aperture, 1986 and The Devil’s Playground Phaidon 2003) in order to form your own impressions. One thing you will notice pretty quickly is that a lot of the work breaks the rules. A lot of images are out of focus. A lot of the images are not safe for work.

What I really like about Goldin’s work are the moods she creates in her images. She realized early on that like life itself, ’ life’s moments’ as captured through the lens don’t always need to be sharp to be powerful. The moments of life that Goldin captures, like life itself are often imperfect.

Greer and Robert on the bed, NYC 1982 © Nan Goldin

Nan and Brian in bed, NYC, 1983 © Nan Goldin

Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a taxi, NYC 1991 — © Nan Goldin

Bruno smoking a joint (valerie’s legs) Paris 2001 © Nan Goldin

Swan-like embrace, Paris 2010 © Nan Goldin

Additional Nan Goldin resources and links:

Wikipedia -  Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin interviewed by Adam Mazur and Paulina Skirgajllo-Krajewska
Goldin’s Years By Lisa Liebmann, originally published in ArtForum, October, 2002
Nan Goldin: ‘I wanted to get high from a really early age’ — Interview with Sean O’Hagan — 2014