2010-09-11
Munkácsi's revolution (part 2 / 11)
The shining through of an uncredited artist
::::: being the best paid photographer of the world
Martin Munkacsi was indeed a pioneer in the truest sense. The Harper's Bazaar that we know started out in 1933 with Carmel Snow and Munkacsi. By that time Munkacsi had already worked in Berlin for 4-5 years for the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung *, a weekly magazine with a circulation of 2 million copies! It was not only the number of copies but also the concept: it was already a pictorial, an illustrated magazine that had emphasis on photojournalism, where stories were told by photos primarily. Before Berlin, Munkacsi had worked for Hungarian papers in Budapest since around 1923 where he also became famous for his revolutionary style. In Berlin he worked for Illustrirte Zeitung practically alongside with the ingenious Dr. Erich Salomon who was the first who called himself a 'Bildjournalist'. Dr. Salomon actually started his tragically short photographer career right there and then.So when Carmel Snow met him, when he had his famous opening photo-shoot, the kick-off of fashion photography with Lucile Brokaw (1933) he was already "the" Martin Munkacsi, and already had his style which had proved to be revolutionary in two different European countries at two different stages of his career already. Working in Berlin also made him be in the first wave of immigrant Jewish artists who fled from nazi occupied Europe, and as the new Harper's Bazaar was the first to inherit the artistic torch from Europe they inherited Munkacsi too. Munkacsi was in the first wave and as he moved to New York the cultural epicenter of the world, too, had moved along from Berlin (and Paris) to New York.
When he got the contract with Snow's Bazaar he became the best paid photographer of the world - and consequently Harper's Bazaar became the magazine that employed the best paid photographer of the world. Quickly he was no longer just a pioneer, he was a star too. A virtuoso bohemian from Europe.
Looking back we wish he hadn't become that, "the best paid photographer of the world". We wish. As we know he kept thinking of himself pretty much in this aspect as of the "'world's greatest photographer, author, storyteller, girlwatcher, and art expert" (Susan Morgan, Károly Kincses / Joan Munkacsi). It's easy to see how this mentality could hurt his career, in terms of building up good relationship with a wide range of artists, editors and important people of the field. But this is not all to that.
Being "the best paid photographer" is totally an unlucky situation. "Best paid" implies that there might be a "best" too which would make "best paid" sound like "overpaid". They say that by around 1940 commercial photography met art-photography and that this was a great opening for photographers. But what about the "best paid" photographer? Would he get plenty of offers? Being the "best paid" might have been quite an obstacle to making his way ahead at that great opening. Looking back now he seems to be the one who just helped photography to this great new stage - but couldn't have his share of it, not even a reward, he was left uncredited.
Today, if we could send an ordinary art-manager back to his time s/he would probably suggest him that instead of getting world famously 'best paid' he should rather focus on achieving a reputation as an artist - getting in the MoMA like WEEGEE Arthur Fellig did. Munkacsi actually got there once in his lifetime in 1937 - for "Photography 1839-1937" - an exhibition of 800 items organized by Beaumont Newhall, open from March to April.
He had quite a great work behind him already - "behind him", that's the key. As a Hungarian researcher and author (of the book Munkacsi & Munkacsi) Károly Kincses explains he had to escape from Germany and so he didn't have "vintage prints" of his photos (print made from the negative within 1 year's time) - which was the preferable form of photographs for both art marketeers and museum curators. It's still hard to believe that his extraordinary series of Hitler and the nazis marching in the parliament on March 21 1933 couldn't make it to the MoMA. If they had ... - Munkacsi's career would surely have worked out in a totally different way.
Without a significant artistic reputation Munkacsi lived totally vulnerable rushing towards a sad end. He was just a star, a comet dashing thru the night sky, just a novelty - and all his contribution to photography became just to be there for free for everyone to take and learn. All his tricks and inventions, all his style quickly became common place in magazine photography (you would see jumping portraits all over the pages of magazines - even in the 2000's when you watch tv and see a Hungarian fashion-mag editor in chief, who's also a photographer she'd still be taking jumping shots, also, there's a photographer (Philippe Halsman) who even "invented" "jumping portraits" as his own trademark in 1951 - when Munkacsi could really use some appreciation. Just like the Rubik Cube, Munkacsi's art quickly became everybody's. So, without the insurance of a significant artistic reputation, being a photographer celebrity, building a house on Long Island (1939), having a shiny lifestyle that includes regular horse rides in Central Park with his first daughter Alice - he was already right on the way to a cold an unfair end.
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* "Ilustrirte Zeitung" - is obviously an incorrect way of spelling, the correct version would be "Illustrierte" - but since the magazine had this name spelled like this we'll use this incorrect spelling throughout this article
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Photographs linked and/or appearing in this article belong to Ullstein Verlag (Ullstein Bild) (Munkacsi's Berliner period), to the Harper's Bazaar and ICP.org (International Center of Photography) and F.C. Gundlach respectively.
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következő fejezet: the pioneer and the "newcomers"
a cikk fejezetei:
-JP-
2010-09-11