Missenscène

“Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph.” – André Kertész

As much as I love Los Angeles, sometimes I just need to get away for a bit. I decided to take a short road trip down the coast of California. I ended up in La Costa, a beautiful resort town near the ocean. When I got here, people were raving about a local photography exhibit at the Cannon Art Gallery, so I decided to check it out.

I had no clue what to expect when I wandered into the minimally publicized exhibit of  André Kertész’s photography. I had never heard of Kertész before my visit to the small gallery. I was really blown away by the photos. They were all of people reading. They were shot all over the world during the 1920s-1970s.

Here is a short bio from the exhibit:

“A prominent member of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s circle in 1920′s Paris, André Kertész created a series of photographs in Europe and the U.S. over a 50-year career, examining the power of reading as a universal pleasure…..André Kertész  (American, born Austria-Hungary, 1894-1985) began taking photographs in Budapest in 1912. He was drafted in the Austro-Hungarian Army where he volunteered for the Polish and Russian fronts. Wounded in 1915, Kertész returned to Budapest before moving to Paris in 1925. Kertész circulated among avant-garde literary and artistic groups and embraced the deep culture of Paris between the world Wars…”

Here’s a few more photos from the exhibit:

If you can’t make it down to Carlsbad to see the exhibit, you can check out André Kertész “On Reading” in the form of a book available on Amazon. I’m totally inspired by the photographs. It’s amazing how many different people Kertész was able to capture reading.

“A photograph draws its beauty from the truth with which it is marked. For this very reason I refuse all the tricks of the trade and professional virtuosity which could make me betray my canon. As soon as I find a subject which interests me, I leave it to the lens to record truthfully.” – André Kertész