short bio
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Gyula Halasz (who went by the pseudo-name Brassai, meaning ‘of Brasso’) was born September 9th 1899 in Brassó to an Armenian mother and a Hungarian father. He grew up speaking Hungarian but later learned French when his family moved to Paris while he was three. The family moved to Paris so his dad could teach French literature at Sorbonne. Brassai studied at the Berlin-Charlottenburg Academy of Fine Arts and became a painter to please his father. In 1920 he went to Berlin, in Berlin he worked as a journalist for the Hungarian papers Keleti and Napkelet and in 1924 he moved to Paris wear he became a very successful photojournalist (in fact Brassai loved Paris so much that he became a French citizen in 1949). Brassai never liked photography till he used it to supplement his articles, then he fell in love. Whilst in Paris he started shooting street photography and released his first collection book titled ‘Paris de nuit’ in 1933. Brassai took these photos “in order to capture the beauty of streets and gardens in the rain and fog, and to capture Paris by night.” 1933 was a very busy year for him as he also helped friend Rado found The Rapho Agency. Brassai had many famous friends they included Dali, Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, and some writers including Genet and Michaux (Picasso appeared to be Brassai’s favorite to photograph though). During the occupation of Paris photographing the streets was forbidden so Brassai turned to other mediums such as drawing instead. In 1946 he published these drawings in the book ‘Trente dessins’. Another time during the war Brassai got shot at through his window while he was taking pictures of the military vehicles outside of it, luckily for him not a single bullet hit him, the only damage done was a broken window and shattered mirror. That incident could be considered a case of the world righting itself as Brassai was in the army during the first world war but sprained his knee and spent the time in the hospital instead of at the front. In 1948 he married his wife Gilberte Boyer, in this time frame of the 40s and 50s is when Brassai developed his reputation in street photography. His photographs made him famous internationally, in 1948 he had a one-man show in the US at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in NYC which travelled to the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. MOMA exhibited more of his work in 1953, 1956, and 1968. Other than visual arts Brassai loved dance (especially ballet, and he even helped in the production of some) along with literature. Brassai also directed a few films and actually won some awards for them. To support his art Brassai made a living taking photos for American magazine ‘Harper’s Bazaar’. Finally as mortality crept up to him, as it must to all Brassai died July 8th 1984 in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France.
By: Stacey Franklin
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Works Cited “Brassai.” Masters of Photography. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://www.masters-of-photography.com/B/brassai/brassai_articles3.html>. “Brassai.” Bill’s Thoughts. Blogger, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://billguy.blogspot.com/2008/10/brassai.html>. “Brassai (French artist) — Britannica Online Encyclopedia.” Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2010. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/77894/Brassai>. “Brassaï.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassai>.
Brassaï, an illustrated biography . Paris: Flammarion, 2005. Print.
The Editors of Time-Life Books. “1920-1930.” Great photographers, . Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books Inc., 1971. 168-169. Print.
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