Of New York

by André Kertész

Ex-library copy with dust jacket.

Genres: Photography

192 pages, hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

André Kertész (French: [kɛʁtɛs]; 2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985), born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition. Kertész never felt that he had gained the worldwide recognition he deserved. Today he is considered one of the seminal figures of photojournalism.[

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's true i am no writer. but i try. and try. and try. i recently found a lovely copy in dustjacket of the first edition of this in a huge used bookstore. all well lit like a barnes & noble but instead of gleaming fresh from the press books, this is all slight loss of luster jackets and worn cloth covers that once felt the curve of palms long since gone. shelves of almost read books and rows and rows of pages that were turned by delicate fingers some long time ago. this one was stuck neatly on the wrong shelf. the song happy Christmas (war is over) by john lennon was playing. and so this is Christmas and what have you done another year over and a new one just begun. you know the weight of it all sometimes just kind of strikes you in the unlikeliest of places. in a used bookstore. or thrift store. on a porch. if you let it. if you stop for that second to take it all in, the weight. i flipped through to a single cloud, the tiniest of clouds near a building and there with music beneath fluorescent lighting the weight lifted. I bought it with a crumpled up five dollar bill from my pocket of lint and broken button. i took it home and the only words in the book that i can recall is the quote from kertesz that begins it, “photography should be realistic.” and then you flip the page to perfect black and white new york. classic new york, the new york of monumental big screen kisses. the new york of dreams and youth of loss and leaving and there i was again riding a bicycle over streets paved by some unknown hand. over manhole covers molded in new jersey and india by someone like me. a kid in the big city! it's just a heart breaking. and here in a photography book is a painting of central park, the composition and angle of the picture creating a flat surface and it is a painting! and here is a flock of pigeons stopped in mid-flight with one to the right leading the way! the seeing. the stopping. the lifting of the weight for those moments before i shut the book and stare at the cover and then set it on the table and turn the weak light off and head to bed to the clicking of the clock and the pulling up of the sheets. i think it was henri cartier-bresson that once said of andre kertesz in the early 1930s, "we all owe him a great deal."

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good show of Kertész's sense of humor