Master of Photography - Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz is considered a master of photography due to his various, innovated methods to take photos. He shot photos during the time period of the Dada movement. Kertesz stopped shooting photos for magazines and began his own artistic journey during the 1940s and 1950s. His photography career can be split into four periods: Hungarian Period, French Period, American Period, and International Period. He was born Hungary and later moved to Paris, France. Due to religious persecution of Jews during World War II, Kertesz decided to move to the U.S. So all in all, Kertesz photographed in Hungary, France, and the U.S. Kertesz often photographed simple objects that revealed a shadow. He even photographed the bustling activity of city streets, often from the elevated regions to allow himself to wait for the perfect moment when the chaos would arrange itself into an elegant composition. Kertesz was also well known for his distorted photos using mirrors and female models. He added to his distorted photos by using polaroids. Kertesz is a unique photographer because he would take photos at different angles. By using a variety of angles, Kertesz was able to capture the full extent of shadows.

I chose Andre Kertesz for his ability to photograph the simple. His use of simplicity emphasizes the smaller aspects of a photo, like shadows or geometry that could sometimes be overlooked when there is too much going on in the photo. Also, the other photographers that I researched often took photos of nature, which would be difficult for our group to be inspired by so that our style would be similar to that of the photographer. Andre Kertesz inspired me to be aware of how angles work. I have learned how my position relative to the subject of my photo can heavily influence the photo that I produce. Each angle of the same subject produces entirely different photos that can create various themes or feelings. When I took photos for this project, I started to stand or crouch at different levels relative to the subject in order to see how minute changes could affect image. My movement as a photographer is extremely important because my perspective will change.

The photo of the shattered window was edited to look similar to that of Andre Kertesz by using Adobe Photoshop and switching the colors to black and white. Then the black and white photo was edited on Camera Raw using these settings: 

Temperature: 0

Tint: 0

Exposure: -0.15

Contrast: -9

Highlights: +2

Shadows: -18

Whites: 0

Blacks: -24

Clarity: -23

Vibrance: 0

Saturation: 0

These stairs were reverted to black and white on Adobe Photoshop to appear similar to the photos of Andre Kertesz. Then the photo was edited in Camera Raw using these settings:

Temperature: 0

Tint: 0

Exposure: -0.45

Contrast: +20

Highlights: -11

Shadows: 0

Whites: 0

Blacks: +9

Clarity: -16

Vibrance: 0

Saturation: 0

The photo was edited on Adobe Photoshop and changed to black and white. Then the black and white photo was edited on Camera Raw using these adjustments:

Temperature: 0

Tint: 0

Exposure: +0.20

Contrast: +7

Highlights: -16

Shadows: +6

Whites: 0

Blacks: 0

Clarity: -8

Vibrance: 0

Saturation: 0

This photo was reverted to the black and white adjustments on Photoshop. Then the black and white image was edited in Camera Raw using these adjustments:
Temperature: 0
Tint: 0
Exposure: -0.70
Contrast: -30
Highlights; -68
Shadows: +9
Whites: 0
Blacks: -22
Clarity: +40
Vibrance: 0
Saturations: 0

This photo was changed to black and white in Adobe Photoshop and then edited on Camera Raw using these settings:

Temperature: 0

Tint: 0

Exposure: +0.15

Contrast: -13

Highlights: -5

Shadows: -19

Whites: +13

Blacks: -18

Clarity: +13

Vibrance: 0

Saturation: 0