Selected Works
Keı ̈ta’s photographs are largely untitled.
Further Reading
Diakhate ́, Lydie. ‘‘The Last Interview: Seydou Keita 1921–
2001.’’Contemporary African Art(Fall/Winter 2002): 17–23.
Diawara, Manthia. ‘‘Talk of the Town.’’Artforum36 (Feb-
ruary 1998): 64–71.
Enwezor, Okwui, Olu Uguibe, and Octavia Zaya.In/sight:
African Photographers, 1940 to the Present. New York:
Guggenheim Museum, 1996.
Lamunie`re, Michelle.You Look Beautiful Like That: The
Portrait Photographs of Seydou Keı ̈ta and Malick Sidibe ́.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 2001.
Magnin, Andre ́, ed.Seydou Keita. Zurich: Scalo, 1997.
Mercer, Kobena. ‘‘Home from Home: Portraits of Places in
Between.’’ Self Evident. Birmingham, England: Ikon
Gallery and Autograph, 1995.
Storr, Robert. ‘‘Bamako: Full Dress Parade.’’Parkett 49
(May 1997): 24–34.
ANDRE
́
KERTE
́
SZ
American, born in Hungary
Though he developed his photographic style in
post-war Paris amidst a flurry of avant-garde activ-
ity, Andre ́Kerte ́sz never aligned himself with any
particular artistic movement. While somewhat in-
fluenced by the Constructivist and Surrealist ten-
dencies of his period, he always remained true to
his own sensibilities, which valued humanity, emo-
tion, and the value of observation. Brassaı ̈, Henri
Cartier-Bresson, and W. Eugene Smith would all
name him as a major influence of their work.
Andre ́Kerte ́sz’s life followed a westward trajec-
tory from old world to new world, during which he
was always guided by his ambition for photogra-
phy. Born Kerte ́sz Andor in 1894 in Budapest, he
grew up in a middle class family that was Jewish,
but not strictly religious. At the age of 14 Kerte ́sz
lost his father to tuberculosis. He and his two
brothers were subsequently raised by their mother
and taken under the wing of their uncle, who they
followed to the Budapest stock exchange for
employment. Kerte ́sz became inspired by the ima-
ges he discovered in Hungarian magazines as a
youth, and was the only member of his family to
develop an active interest in art. Upon the comple-
tion of his schooling in 1912, he eagerly launched
his career as a photographer with the purchase of
his first camera.
Kerte ́sz found his early subject matter in the streets
of Budapest and its rural surroundings. He was parti-
cularly drawn to the more marginalized members of
society, like the gypsies and peasants who existed on
the fringes of Hungarian society. While such subjects
were shared by the Hungarian pictorialist photogra-
phers, Kerte ́sz’s aesthetic sensibilities significantly di-
verged from those predecessors. The Pictorialists
tended to wrap their compositions in a layer of haze
and romanticize their lower-class subjects. Kerte ́sz’s
approach was more akin to a realist tradition, more
interested in observation and reportage than in per-
petuating a nostalgic mythology. This straightforward
portrayal of the underclasses also hints at social cri-
tique, though he was never overtly political. The fun-KEI ̈TA, SEYDOU
Seydou Keita, Malian Men with Musical Instruments.
[#Contemporary African Art Collection Limited/CORBIS]