Martin Munkácsi: Think While You Shoot

7 October 2010 – 9 January 2011
Ludwig Museum

The exhibition has been made possible by collaboration with the F. C. Gundlach Collection.

Marton Munkácsi, known to the world as Martin Munkácsi (1896-1963) was born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj in Romania) and was one of the greatest pioneers of photo journalism, as well as one of the highest paid star photographers of his time. He enjoyed tremendous success in Budapest, Berlin and New York and worked for such distinguished magazines as Pesti Napló, Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Harper’s Bazaar, Life and Ladies’ Home Journal. He photographed sportsmen and dancers, and took fashion photography out of the studio and using his own unique vision, gave the static medium of photography the quality of movement. At the peak of his success, his powerful photo-reports and brilliant images made a deep impact on not just the other greats of photo art, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon, but through his spectacular fashion shoots, he strongly shaped the perceived image of the successful, independent and dynamic Western urban woman. His series How America LIves was made up of 65 reports compiled between 1940 and 1946 and portrayed everyday life in America across all strata of society. Another peak in his work were some exceptional portraits of Hollywood stars (Katherine Hepburn, Leslie Howard, Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich). As the medium transformed and tastes changed, his photography soon sank into oblivion and the one-time world famous star photographer died in poverty and neglect. Retrospective exhibitions were held in 2005 at the exhibition hall of the Hamburg Internationales Haus der Photographie and in 2006, at the Berlin Martin-Gropius-Bau and as a result, this Hungarian born artist was rediscovered and he has been restored to his rightful place in the history of photography. This exhibition of work by Martin Munkácsi at the Budapest Ludwig Museum has been supplemented with some rare material loaned from private collections.

Organiser: Ludwig Museum