Objects reflecting who I am:
Photography Research: André Kertész
André Kertész was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his ground breaking contributions to photographic composition. Kertész pursued photography independently and his early work was published primarily in magazines which was a major market in the 1900s when he worked.
A piece that I found interesting is titled Underwater Swimmer, taken in 1917. Kertész took this photograph of his brother as his subject and it has been named as one of the most influential photographs of the twentieth century. The photograph takes an ordinary subject of a man in a swimming pool and elevates it into something intriguing and artistically thought provoking. I find it interesting how he utilises the distorting ripples of the swimming pool’s surface, almost as if he is freezing time through the photograph.
Underwater Swimmer demonstrates Kertész’s early interest in these compositional and metaphorical concepts, which would inform the rest of his career and influence a generation of photographers after him. Some critics argue that Underwater Swimmer catalysed an interest in depicting swimming pools and people swimming underwater, inspiring modern artists such as Henri Matisse (The Swimming Pool, 1952) David Hockney (A Bigger Splash, 1967) and Samantha French (Rise Up, 2017).
Kertész took this photograph in 1926 as part of a series of “portraits” of his friend. However, ironically most of the photos don’t actually feature the friend himself. Instead, Kertész uses reflections, transparency and shadows to create an ambiguous photo. Kertész creates his portrait through absence, drawing the viewer’s attention to his friends “presence” through his possessions. The use of bold monochrome lines is inspiring, and the imperfect placement of the possessions enhance a sense of character and life despite the subject being inanimate objects.