Picture this: pioneer’s photos revived in Moscow

19 October, 2008, 10:22

The work of pioneering photographer Martin Munkacsi has gone on display in Moscow. Munkacsi was famous in the 1930-1950s, working with everyone from Hollywood legends to sports stars, and is credited with establishing many of the principles modern photography.

“Think while you shoot” is one of them. Munkacsi encouraged photographers not to ask their subjects to pose. He claimed the best snapshots were taken when a model was relaxed and natural. For that time it was a very bold idea.

Born in Hungary, he worked mainly in Germany in the 1930s and then moved to the U.S. to do mainly fashion and sports shoots.

Munkacsi photographed an array of Hollywood celebrities and worked for the leading fashion magazines in the U.S. However, he died in poverty in 1963 and U.S. galleries refused to keep his collection of snapshots, meaning his work was forgotten for decades.

But another photographer, Franz Christian Gundlach, thought Munkacsi’s heritage is worth being revived. He has managed to put together many of his pictures, which had been scattered all over the world, and brought a retrospective show to Moscow, which is now on display at the Manege Gallery.