Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson versus Smith and Salgado

"Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph." - Andre Kertesz (1894 -1985)

Born on July 2, 1894 in Budapest, Hungary, Andre Kertesz was one of the most important figures in the coming age of photojournalism and the art of photography. He started working at Budapest Stock Exchange to provide enough resources to purchase his first camera. In 1914, Andre was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in which he brought his camera. This was the beginning of his work being taken as a serious artist. Andre's photographs were mainly focused on the lives of soldiers outside the fighting unlike others.


Self portrait of Andre Kertesz in Poland.

Andre's ability to cast attention on seemingly unimportant objects has given him even more praise for his genius ability. His style to catch moments of joy and contemplation in his subtle images were a revolutionary use of the newly invented hand-held camera.


Soldier Writing taken by Andre Kertesz

In 1925, Andre had left for Paris, which was considered the center of the art in the world, to begin his life as a freelance photographer. He found Paris to be a welcoming and artistically inspiring place. Throughout the 1930s, Andre studied the people and their inhabitation of the streets and the play of light and shadows which gave him much attention through his photos. He was always able to create strong lines and geometric shapes. People were often used as an element in his composition, or as a focal points to create tension. His photos reflected a sense of amusement through the photos of the streets and the world around him. For the most part, great empathy was felt in his subjects through his photos.


Eiffel Tower, Paris Taken by Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz created distortions within his nude photos. This peaked his fascination with questioning realities, including the human form.

A series of photos called "Distortions" were taken by Andre Kertesz, revealing his fascination with the human body and its accepted reality form.

By 1936, Andre Kertesz had moved to New York due to the death of his mother and a contract to Keyston Agency , which was eventually cancelled a year later. Moving back to Paris was impossible due to war and he was treated as an enemy by the government. Andre had lost all supportive artistic community in which he had lost recognition for his gifts for nearly twenty years. It wasn't until 1964 where Andre's career was reawakened. Early European artists were being recognized for their work which had advanced art photography in America. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1983 and was able to have one-man shows in Paris, Tokyo, London, Stockholm, Budapest, and Helsinki. Shortly a year after his Legion of Honor award, Andre Kertesz had passed away in his New York home.

Andre Kertesz has given a profound effect to the hand-held camera. His photos of common people, places and events expresses a universality of human experience and redefined concepts of beauty.


Kertesz: Landing pigeon, New York City



"To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life." - Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 - 2004)

Henri Cartier-Bresson was born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France. His work had helped photojournalism be established as an art. Through his images can be best described as capturing the climatic instant whether it being an emotion interaction or peak expression. The Decisive Moment is best known to be his central idea to his work being the very moment his subject reveals the significance of the event through the most telling of forms.

Henri Cartier Bresson, Rue Mouffetard, Paris - a young boy cradles two large wine bottles with an expression of pleasure.

The use of his 35-mm Leica was relevant to his belief in his work. Cartier practiced unobtrusiveness in order to capture unposed photographs. By doing so, he was able to take natural, revealing images of his respected subjects. Cartier even covered his camera in black tape so much to remain invisible to his surroundings and to remain silent.


Alicante taken in Spain by Henri Cartier-Bresson

Cartier extensively travelled throughout Eastern Europe visiting Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. In 1933 he then set off to Provence, Italy and Spain. During his travels, Cartier expressed a desire to move slowly, to live on proper terms in each country, to take his time, so that he can be totally immersed in the environment. In 1934, he left Europe for Mexico where he was based in one of the most degrading parts of the capital, near the Candelaria de los Patos and the Calle Chimalpopoca, a zone reserved for prostitution and poverty. The majority of his work was done in this neighbourhood.

A great majority of Henri Cartier-Bresson's work in Mexico was done in a degrading zone near the capital.

Henri Cartier-Bresson had almost stopped taking pictures at one point. In 1934, he had left Mexico for America where he would stay in New York. He found a passion for films and learned motion pictures photography. Cartier was involved in the Spanish Civil War and shot a documentary film called "La Victoire de la vie" about a Republican hospital. After the Spanish Civil War, in 1940, Henri Cartier-Bresson joined the army in Paris when World War II broke out. He was captured by Germans and was forced into a labour camp. He managed to escape to France and later joined a photographic unit of the French Resistance that recorded German occupation.

Photograph of Henri Matisse taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson during his time with the French Resistance

In 1945, Cartier was once again a freelance photographer. During this time, he became the co-founder of Magnum Photos, the first photo agency that provided photographs by top photographers working around the world which soon became an influential force in photojournalism. In 1952, Cartier prepared a book which is known as "The Decisive Moment". This book is arguably the most important photo book of the 20th century, to the great interest and contribution of photojournalism and to the history of photography. In the book, Cartier writes "I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situations that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes"

Henry Cartier-Bresson has been around the world to India, Burma, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Japan and the former USSR, to name the least. During his travels, his faithful camera, also known as his sketchpad, has accompanied him throughout. His recorded images and works have been compounded into his amazing photo book "The Decisive Moment" and archives at Magnum has inspired the world of photography to capture life in single moment.


"There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare Saint Lazre train station. I happened to be peeking through a gap in the fence with my camera at the moment the man jumped." - Henri Cartier-Bresson



"I've never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil." - W. Eugene Smith (1918 - 1978)

William Eugene Smith was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1918. His life of photography had started at the age of thirteen, through inspiration from his mother. In 1936, at the age of 18, he entered Notre Dame University where his work was so impressive that a special photographic scholarship was created for him. By twenty-one, he had already published in dozens of magazines. During his work with Life Magazines, he described it as "overconscious of technique and artificial light, mainly multiple flash" and left his post for life of free lance photography.


Photographing the initial landings of Iwo Jima during World War II taken by W. Eugene Smith

What was best known for this legendary photojournalist was his dedication to his mission as a photographer. This was shown through his most famous works and first breakthrough, World War II. He received an assignment to cover the war in the pacific. He threw himself into the action, taking photos on land, sea, and in the air, in hopes to get into the heart of the war. During the time, he was involved in 26 combat missions and 13 invasions. On D-Day, he hitch hiked twelve hundred miles to Guam from Okinawa in order to get his pictures delivered to Life as fast as possible. He then returned to the invasion on the first plane to arrive.


A picture of a wounded soldier was taken in Okinawa by W. Eugene Smith in 1945

On May 23, 1945, Smith's luck had ran out, suffering a serious injury from a Japanese shell fragment, while taking a photo of a soldier on the front line. The missile hit him in the head, cutting both cheeks, injuring his tongue and knocking out some of his teeth. His comment at the hospital was "I forgot to duck but I got a wonderful shot of those who did... my policy of standing up when the others are down finally caught up with me."


US Marine rifleman taking aim near a body of a dead Japanese soldier taken by W. Eugene Smith

Because of his war wounds, Smith was hospitalized for two years and had gone through plastic surgery. Through these years, it was doubtful if he could take another picture. It was then, he had taken a walk with his two children, and even though it was painful to operate a camera, Smith had taken one of the most famous photographs of all time: "The Walk to Paradise Garden". It was to be one of the most enduring and best-loved photographs.


"The Walk to Paradise Garden" - W. Eugene Smith

After the war, Smith had taken a very different approach of photography where he would spend weeks in immersing himself in the lives of his subjects. This approach reflected his desire to reveal the true essence of his subjects. One of his photo essays with Life, “Nurse Midwife” is a story about Maude Callen. He wanted to show people that a black woman working in an impoverished community in the rural South that a remarkable woman is doing a remarkable job in an impossible situation of racism. His method of getting close to this subjects and photographing them from a more intimate proved successful. Through his work, there was a huge response from both his editors at Life magazine and the public.


"Nurse Midwife" a story of a black woman through an impossible situation taken by W. Eugene Smith

In the late fifties, Smith left his family and moved to a loft in New York City to devote himself to his artistic life and his work. He spent most of his time in his loft, taking pictures from the window. He photographed many artists and musicians who shared his lifestyle and life in the streets. In 1970, he began to work on what would be his final project. Working with his second wife, he spend several years in Japan collaborating on a book about victims of industrial pollution in Minimata.

Smith left behind a legacy of powerful photographs in the history of photography and journalism. His approach to immerse himself with the lives of his subject has became what is now a new form of photojournalism known as photo essay.


Minamata, Japan - W. Eugene Smith 1972



"I try with my pictures to raise a question, to provoke a debate, so that we can discuss problems together and come up with solutions." - Sebastiao Salgado (1944)

Educated as an economist, Sebastiao Salgado started his photography career in 1973. He is one of the most respected photojournalists working today. Appointed a UNICEF Special Representative, he has dedicated himself into taking the world's deprived and dispossessed into ten books and many exhibitions that has won him many awards in Europe and in America.


Feet, Brazil, 1983 - Sebastiao Selgado

His first book, Other Americas, about the poor in Latin America, was published in 1986. Also published in 1986 was his book Sahel: Man in Distress, the result of a 15 month long collaboration with Medecins San Frontières covering the drought in northern Africa.

Other Americas by Sebastiao Salgado

From 1986 to 1992, he covered manual labour world-wide, resulting, Workers, documented in a book and exhibition. It was monumental for him which confirmed his reputation as a photo documentarian.

Dispute between Serra Gold Mine Workers and Military Police, Brazil, 1986, Sebastiao Selgado

From 1993 to 1999, his attention turned to the global phenomenon of mass displacement of people, which resulted in Migrations and The Children. These internationally acclaimed books were published in 2000. "More than ever, I feel that the human race is one. There are differences of colour, language, culture and opportunities, but people's feelings and reactions are alike. People flee wars to escape death, they migrate to improve their fortunes, they build new lives in foreign lands, they adapt to extreme hardship…." This was the introduction that was written in the book Migrations by Sebastiao.

There are Over 100 Million Migrants Today - Sebastiao Selgado

Mr. Salgado exhibited 90 portraits of displaced children taken from his booked The Children exhibited at UN headquarters in New York. This shows that 30 million people throughout the world, mostly women and children, are without a permanent home.

Babies Playing on a Roof on top of a FEBEM Center taken by Sebastiao Selgado

Sebastiao Salgado's respect for his subjects and his determination has created an imagery that testifies to the fundamental dignity of all humanity. Protesting the violation by war, poverty and other injustices is shown through his works and photographs among his books and exhibitions. Sebastiao Selgado is certainly a leading icon that continues to show the world the imbalances of our world.

The Differences

Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson believed that capturing the moment regardless of time and environment is the best way of depicting the photo. An example of such capturing the moment would be Kertesz’s “Landing pigeon” picture in New York City (1990). Kertesz commented that it took “maybe 30 years for that instant”. The need to be invisible is also prevalent in both of Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson work. Cartier-Bresson would describe the action of tip-toe picture, velvet hands, and hawk’s eyes. Because of such stealth state both Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson believed that the proper expression would be present if there were no disruptions in the photo – capturing the real moment of the action. Even though both these men had at one point of their career worked for a magazine company, they believed that putting words into their photographs was not necessary, as they believed that it should be up to the audience to decide the meaning of their works.

On the other side, Smith and Salgado believed that being involved in the photograph is the best way of capturing expression. Salgado will often enter the circle and interact with his subjects in order to get closer and squeeze more expressions from the subject. The photo’s that Smith and Salgado take, it makes the subject feel as though that the one taking the photo is so close to them, they feel that the photographers are in the photos. A great example of that is Smith’s picture of the “Spanish Wake” whereby he captured a family that was all mourning the deceased. Smith’s view of “I give myself to the story” is prevalent in most of the photo’s that he took. Compared to Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson, Smith and Salgado were not shy of post production work in the dark room. Often changing lighting in order to guide the audience on how Smith and Salgado wanted to convey their photos. Sebastiao Salgado was known also to spend time to get to know with his subjects before taking photos of them. Most of his works are those the working class. He believed that interactions with the people in his photographs would convey a better message of what his subjects are going through.

The Similarities

The works of Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Benson, Eugene Smith, and Sebastiao Salgado are all considered as pioneers or photojournalism. Their works inspired numbers of photographers to do photojournalism. The similarities between these photographers are few since they believed in different ways to tell their stories through their photographs. One similarity is their use of black and white film. I personally feel as though black and white can set a certain mood, especially in pictures involving negative situations. Another similarity they had was their passion to want to tell their journalism through their photographs. They all wanted the audience to truly see what was going on, even though they had different ideas on how this should be done.

The Better Approach

In determining who has a better photojournalistic approach, it could be argued that Andre Kartesz and Henri Cartier-Benson had the preferable compared to Eugene Smith and Sebastiao Salgado. Photojournalism, has it s roots on journalism, which tends to present facts without any alteration or bias from those presenting it. In the case of Eugene Smith and Seabastiao Salgado, they spend time with the subjects in their photos getting to know them. This might lead them to have a bias towards their final works. They might have the tendency to show their works from their subjects perspective, not in a neutral one as a journalist should have it. Also in Eugene Smith’s case, he spends more time in editing his works. This dilutes the level of reality in the works he produces.

References:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/andre-kertesz/about-andre-kertesz/645/
http://www.corkingallery.com/?q=node/172
http://www.biography.com/articles/Henri-Cartier-Bresson-9240139?part=0
http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2004/08/cartier-bressons_impact_on_journalism.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/w-eugene-smith/about-w-eugene-smith/707/
http://www.unicef.org/salgado/bio.htm