nstrated in a 1928 photograph taken in Meudon, in
which a man carrying a large wrapped package
approaches the camera as a locomotive rumbles
across a bridge at the top of the composition.
Aside from being frequently published in the lit-
erary journals of avant-garde circles, Kerte ́sz’s
photography also reached a more mainstream audi-
ence through pictorial magazines specializing in
human interest stories. He was one of the most
important contributors to the new magazinesVu
andArt et Me ́dicine, and became a pioneer of the
photo essay.
Kerte ́sz had a brief marriage from 1928–1930 to
Rosza Klein, a Hungarian woman who later be-
came a photographer herself, under the pseudonym
Rogie Andre ́. In 1930, he visited Budapest for the
first time since his departure, and rekindled his
relationship with Elizabeth Saly. She went to Paris
to live with Kerte ́sz the following year, and they
were married in 1933. She resumed her role as his
frequent model, appearing in photographs amongst
palm-reading gypsies, in Parisian cafe ́s, and posing
with Andre ́himself.
It was around this time that Kerte ́sz began explor-
ing one of his most renowned themes, theDistor-
tions. These experiments began as assignments for
Vu; in 1929 he took photographs of a fortune teller
in the transmogrifying sphere of her crystal ball, and
a year later took portraits of his friend Carlo Rim in
a circus mirror. He developed this technique further
with a series of distorted nudes commissioned by the
mass magazine Le Sourire.IntheseDistortions,
women’s bodies are morphed into grotesque crea-
tures with nebulous shapes—bodies that refuse to be
contained or easily defined.
These compositions hint at an affinity with Sur-
realism, and Kerte ́sz did occasionally publish in
journals associated with the movement, including
Andre ́Breton’sMinotaure. However, Kerte ́sz never
pledged allegiance to Surrealism or any other move-
ment, and maintained his loyalty to what he called
‘‘naturalism.’’ Despite his experimentation with dis-
torted images and unusual juxtapositions, Kerte ́sz
was never interested in manipulating the photo-
graphic process itself, which distinguishes him
from the techniques employed by his contempor-
ary, Man Ray. When elements of Surrealism appear
in Kerte ́sz’s work, they most often derive not from
the artist’s hand, but from the simple observation of
daily life. This impulse appears in the 1937 photo-
graph of a repairman’s arm reaching between the
blades of a ventilator. Though the image displays
the kind of jarring juxtaposition typical of Surreal-
ism, and closely resembles a montage, it is in fact an
unmanipulated snapshot of the real world.
At this point Kerte ́sz turned more attention to
the publication of books, and his first, a collection
of portraits of children entitledEnfants, was pub-
lished in 1933. He would go on to publish several
more books of his photographs, including Nos
Amies les Beˆtes in 1936, Day of Parisin 1945, and
On Readingin 1971.
In October 1936, Andre ́ and Elizabeth Kerte ́sz
sailed for New York City for what was intended to
be a two-year experiment with America. He opted to
leave Paris for essentially the same reasons he fled
Budapest 11 years earlier: an increasingly repressive
political environment and the promise of making a
better living as a photographer. Through a Hungar-
ian relative, Kerte ́sz was offered a one-year contract
with Keystone Studios, a motion picture agency
with a New York office. Upon arriving he was dis-
appointed to find a paucity of reportage assign-
ments, and had to settle for working in the studio
on commercial photography.
By early 1937, Kerte ́sz had already dissolved his
contract with Keystone and decided to try his luck
with American magazines. He began working for
Alexey Brodovitch, an acquaintance from Paris
who was now the art director atHarper’s Bazaar,
a Hearst publication. He also took society portraits
for Hearst’sTown and Countryand freelanced for
two Conde ́ Nast publications,House and Garden
andVogue.
In 1938, he attempted to break intoLifemaga-
zine with an assignment focusing on the New York
waterfront. Kerte ́sz took a number of successful
compositions, from bird’s-eye views of the harbor
to more intimate shots of workers on tugboats, but
none of the photographs were ever published, for
reasons still uncertain. Despite this setback, Kerte ́sz
continued to submit work to other magazines such
as Coronet, which was more inclined to respect
photography as a valid, autonomous art form
rather than as mere illustration for text. However,
sinceCoronetdid not hire staff photographers, but
bought pictures from various artists through agen-
cies, Kerte ́sz was unable to make a living from this
publication alone. One of Kerte ́sz’s main obstacles
in acquiring magazine work was his manner of
working. American editors preferred photogra-
phers who took multiple roles of film and offered
a large pool of images from which to select. Kerte ́sz,
by contrast, was much more economical, opting to
submit a small number of very fine images, and
thereby assuming the role of editor for himself.
Amidst his career struggles, Kerte ́sz maintained a
certain degree of visibility as an artist, continuing to
exhibit works and publish books of his photographs.
In December 1937, Kerte ́sz had his first solo exhibi-KERTE ́SZ, ANDRE ́