In 2021, 1,163 photographs arrived in Budapest from New York. Most of these pictures were taken before André Kertész left Hungary. These early images offer glimpses into Kertész’s relationships with his family members and his experiences as a young man in a rapidly changing world.  

What spaces and emerging professional ties in this shifting world exerted an influence on the young Kertész? How did he use the camera as a tool, and with what aims? How did he navigate the opportunities and expectations he faced, and how were his perceptions of the scenes around him changed by his experiences in the Great War and his travels across the countryside? Finally, how did his work as a photographer affect his sensitivity to the world unraveling before him?

The exhibition offers answers to these questions. We follow in the footsteps of the young André Kertész with a selection of his vintage prints taken before 1925.

Photo(s) by André Kertész © Estate of André Kertész, Collection of the Hungarian National Museum