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Background information
"Eva BESNYÖ [1910-2003], fascinated by the 'New Photography,' became a reporter of life on the street: she photographed coal men, garbage men, visual artists, and children not from navel height, where her 6x6 Rolleiflex hung, but usually from a lowered angle. Other times, she looked instead at the shadows on pavement or dirt roads from a bird's eye view. Often the diagonal line played an important role in her compositions. Her fascinating paintings testify to an excellent eye for detail and design.
In the fall of 1932, the Budapest-born photographer came to the Netherlands from Berlin, where she had lived all her life. Through her mother-in-law Charley Toorop, she came into contact with a circle of avant-garde artists, painters, architects and filmmakers.
Eva found connection mainly through her novel way of photographing, which she had learned in Berlin. Architectural and portrait photography were an important source of income for her.
Content
In addition to the 'masterpieces' selected by Eva BESNYÖ herself from the so-called 'keur' collection, this monograph also contains a large number of magnificent unknown works, previously unpublished or never shown before. These came to light during a review of her archive of negatives, which has been kept at the Maria Austria Institute in Amsterdam since her death.
Eva BESNYÖ's black-and-white photographs reveal the gaze of a photographer who viewed her subjects in Budapest, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Milan with constant attention to light, shadow, cropping, and line play. The introduction is by Tineke de Ruiter, Besny expert par excellence. Also included is a biography." (publisher's free translated text, © Voetnoot, 2007)