Photos Mimicing Andre Kertesz

For this assignment I chose to take my own photos and mimic the works of Andre Kertesz. The reason I chose Kertesz is that even though he is said to be a photojournalist I find him to be an artist. His works use shadows and unique settings. His works are wide in variety and gave me a broad range of images to choose from. Though I know my photos are not to the level of Andre Kertesz I believe I was able to capture some of the essence of his photographs. I shot all of my photos in black and white to be true to Kertesz style.


Photo One: A child’s eyes


My first photo is taken of my niece dressed up as a dinosaur. I used shadows to draw attention to her big beautiful eyes and was lucky enough to catch a smile. This reminded me of Kertesz’s photos of a young boy and a sheep lying on the ground where the boy was laughing. The joy in the expressions of the children felt like the most important of the photograph to me.

To me, Kertesz was different from all other photo journalists because he seemed to capture his photos for their feeling rather than to just document the event. Kertesz valued the thought an image provoked or the light in the subjects eyes. This photo was not documenting the great boy-sheep war but a young boy playing with an animal and having a great time of it.
Photo Two: In Stride


The second photo is of a woman’s legs while she is mid –stride. The reason I chose to shoot this is I feel Kertesz’s photos empower women and depict them as confident powerful individuals. I feel capturing a woman walking with purpose would show something similar. The image is again in black and white and slightly blurred which I would normally not like but I think it adds feeling and shows she is on the move so I liked the blur in the end. I got down to floor level to capture the photo straight on.

Satiric Dancer

When you read how Andre Kertesz spoke in his interviews and then looked at his images you could tell he was a very unique man. He had a different view of what to capture and what is important. He wasn't frantic when he couldn't photograph a riot, he was content taking in his surroundings and fighting for his freedom. People would ask why he photographed friends or family or just people living their daily life where there was no breaking news story and his response was simply, "why not them too?" and that was indeed his true question, why not? he captured images that he felt had an impact and those images need not be from war or pain but sometimes just the beauty and confidence radiating from a woman.
Photo Three: Shadow and pride


In my third image I took a photo of myself standing near my Toronto Maple Leafs scarf to be similar to the image Shadow and Lion by Kertesz. I caught my profile facing the scarf which I feel represents pride which to me is what a lion symbolizes. I used a candle behind myself to cast the shadow on the wall and zoomed into the wall to capture my profile without my arm interfering. I was actually very happy with the end result because the focus was actually on my profile rather than on the other object, in this case the scarf.

Shadow and Lion

This photo reminds me of how instinctual Andre Kertesz really was. There is no telling what he was actually doing in this situation or how he actually came to be in this position but he captured the photo and it in turn will now stimulate thought in so many people wondering the same things and I think that is something he knew is people would always wonder about his photos.. the who what when where why and how. and unlike other photo journalists his photos did not always show these answers. It was a mystery.
Photo Four: Burning Flame


My fourth photo is of a candle burning and the light it illuminates across the room. I took this to mimic the photos Kertesz took of inanimate objects. I tried to use the shadows to my advantage by turning my flash off and letting the flame give the image its own life. This is the photo I am most pleased with because I feel the candle and the candle holder both look romantic and inviting and really make you wonder where the candle was lit, what it was lit for and what may have happened with it. These are feelings I get from many of Kertesz photos.

This photo of mine reminds me of many of Kertesz's photos but in particular I'd like to compare it to the glasses and the pipe photo. There is no specific reason for this photo it is just a candle but the shadows and the flame create a wonder. I emphasize this because it just makes me feel more and more that though Kertesz didnt stage his photos that he was more of an artist than a journalist.
Photo Five: Eternally Alive


My final photo is of dried roses from numerous occasions that my boyfriend gave me. I took the photo of them to show the life in death as Andre Kertesz does in Melancholic Tulip. I feel that the message behind the image was that though the tulip looks dead it in fact is in clean water and is alive. Or is it dead? And the water and petals just seem alive. I wanted to make the roses seem like they were still alive as they are for me because they are alive with memories. I used a very bright flash from above the roses and turned all the other lights off.

This is Kertesz at his finest. This photo brings the unknown to life and it tests your beliefs. What is real? what is not? what is bad? what is good? are these flowers dead or alive? is the glass half empty or half full? I think that this is why I like Kertesz as a photographer so much. He always seems to push to bring something more. For an image not to be cut and dry but to have to read between the lines. He seems like he was a true intellect.


Capturing these images in the image of Andre Kertesz was quite difficult because I could not edit them and I decided that even though I find it ethical to edit photographs in terms of brightening or sharpening or cropping I decided to take them the best I could with my own lighting and candles. I know that these pictures are not as beautiful and intricate as Kertesz's photos but I am quite proud of the end results.

Sources Cited:

Google Image Search : Andre Kertesz Works Icevska, Gordana. "Week 10 Readings." Weblog post. Photography Shooting the Truth. George Brown College, 9 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

Photo Journal 2 -- ART vs PRESS

1. To me, the main difference between art and press photography is emotion and truth. A press photograph may be taken of an emotional situation but the photo is truly being taken to capture the scene not the emotion the scene invokes. To document the event not the feelings there were. If the feelings come along side it, thats one thing but the photos aren't meant to hold that alone they are just meant to hold the truth. Art photographs can be based on just the emotion behind them, they don't even have to make sense or seem relevant visually to be art. Examples of this can be seen in Andre Kertesz photo of the two pairs of glasses and the pipe and tobacco. This photo doesn’t have much context but stimulates thought and makes you wonder, who wore these glasses? Who smoked that pipe? Another example is the photo I have taken of the ceramic fire pot as art and the burning car as press photography. They both feature fire and inanimate objects but have completely different meanings and purposes.

2. I believe it is acceptable and ethical to edit art photographs because it can emphasize the beauty of a photograph. Some photographers like Andre Kertesz have an instinct a gift to naturally capture a beautiful moment. “Look at the atmosphere, the reflection. Why did I do it this way? Instinct. I have no other explanation the subject offered its self to me and I took advantage ” Not all people who wish to capture a feeling that can move someone have this instinct. Kertesz had this instinct and never edited or staged his photos. People such as myself have the power to take an amazing photo, thanks to modern technology by having my Cannon Power Shot SX30 IS camera on a tripod and taking dozens of frames per second. I then go through the photos to see which is the caught the scene the way I had imagined. Once I find an image that pleases me I run it through a photo editor to turn it into what I intended it to be. The photo of my boyfriend Keegan and I on an island we canoed to in Muskoka is an example of this. We left the camera to do as it pleased on the tripod with the zoom on and started to dance on a rock. I found the photo pictured of us below where you can see how care free I am laughing like nobody’s watching, not even the camera. I wanted to make the photo seem more frozen so I changed the exposure so there was a bigger difference between us and the water and turned the photo black and white. After this I feel the photo radiated the emotions we were feeling at that moment.

3. I believe it is unethical to edit press photographs unless it is to enhance the visibility of the scene of the image. Press photographs are supposed to document a event. A time. A story. I feel if the photo is edited it is untruthful to the events. Also, A press photograph should never be stages because thjat would not depict what is naturally happening in the scene. This is why Cartier-Bresson spoke of always being invisible as to not inmterrupt the scene unfolding around him. Cedo was a true journalist to me because it crushed him that he could not capture the story that was unfolding in front of him because the protesters in Macedonia destroyed his camera. He was not concerned with the look or feel of the event. In my opinion, he was concerned with not letting the event going undocumented, unseen. Cedo even went back the next day to attempt to photograph the aftermath. In my photo, I took a picture of myself and a customer while working. I did not edit at all for fear of compromising the image. I simply wanted to document the event for my clients news letter.

Because these images are supposed to be real and raw, editing them can make them deceiving. If the image is edited for clarity for example Sharpening or adjusting lighting I believe that is acceptable but when it comes to editing a half closed eye to look open or a police officer raising a hand with a baton in it and making it look differently or any component that tells or supports the story is messed with, I believe it is very wrong. Press photography must show the facts and be based on the facts. It must be honest, based on truth not assumptions or false reality.


Sources Cited:


Icevska, Gordana. "Week 10 Readings." Weblog post. Photography Shooting the Truth. George Brown College, 9 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.