István Kerny

About the Artist

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  István Kerny. Trükk önarckép (Trick self-portrait). 1917. Gelatin silver print, 4 1/4 x 2” (10.7 x 5 cm). Hungarian Museum of Photography, Kecskemét

  István Kerny was an amateur photographer and an active presence in Hungarian photography for sixty years, known for tirelessly experimenting with diverse materials and techniques, including trick photography and montages. Born in Szeged in 1879, he began teaching himself photography in 1894, while still in his teens, eventually taking lessons from a local photographer. He purchased a used photogravure press in 1902 and in 1907 received his first award for participating in an exhibition. In 1908 he moved to Budapest, and by 1914 he was publishing photographs and articles in the international and Hungarian press, including the newspapers Érdekes Újság and Új Idők. In 1920 he became a contributing photographer for Színházi Élet and Nemzeti Sport; his sports photographs were also published in German, Swiss, and Polish newspapers. In the 1920s he traveled with fellow Hungarian photographers Rudolf Balogh and Ervin Kankowszky through the countryside. Their photographs of village life and traditional dress established them as pioneers of the “Magyar style,” the dominant style of the Magyar Amatőrfényképezők Országos Szövetsége (National association of Hungarian amateur photographers, or MAOSZ), of which Kerny became a member in 1920, secretary in 1927, and president in 1932. In 1941 Kerny and Kankowszky founded the Amateur Photography Museum; its collection, prized for its holdings of modern Hungarian photographs, was destroyed during bombings in 1944.

  —Kelly Cannon

Meeting Points

• Cultural Hubs Budapest
  
• Publications Malerei, Photographie, Film, 1925
  

Artist Chronology

Walther Photographs

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  Neptune

Related Essays

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  Baki, Péter
  Hungary Between the Wars: A Photographic Portrait