Clochard and Posters, Paris

Andrê Kertész arrived in Paris from Hungary in 1925, hoping to find work in an established studio or with one of the new photographically illustrated magazines. When he was not on commission, Kertész took to walking the streets of Paris, in all different seasons and at all times of day, as a way to discover the distinctive poetry of the city seen through the camera lens. Recorded as if by the glance of a casual observer, this street scene contrasts the elegant curves and repeating shapes of the figures in the posters with the dark, hunched form of the homeless clochard standing on the sidewalk.