Ergy or Erzsy Landau (1896–1967) was a Hungarian-French humanist photographer. Born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Landau worked in

Franz Xaver Setzer Franz Xaver Setzer, actually Franz Anton Adolf (6 August 1886 in Vienna – 10 January 1939 in ibid) was an Austrian photographer. Biography He received his training at the Imperial Royal Institute of Prints and Drawings, he later founded his own ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

studio and then in

Rudolf Dührkoop Rudolf Johannes Dührkoop (1 August 1848, Hamburg – 3 April 1918, Hamburg) was a German portrait photographer; one of the leading early representatives of pictorialism. Biography He was born to Christian Friederich Dührkoop, a carpenter, an ...

's studio in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. She had photographed the German writer

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

and her painter/photographer friend,

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the i ...

, whom she introduced to the medium. In May 1922 she emigrated to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where she established herself as a

portrait photographer Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective Photographic lighting, lighting, Painted photography backdrops, backdrops, and poses. A portr ...

. Landau brought the first

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei, Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's pr ...

to France. Nora Dumas joined Landau's studio in 1929, and

Ylla Camilla "Ylla" Koffler ( hu, Koffler Kamilla; 16 August 1911 – 30 March 1955) was a Hungarian photographer who specialized in animal photography. At the time of her death she "was generally considered the most proficient animal photographer in ...

in 1932. Landau met Charles Rado in 1933. Rado founded the photo press agency Rapho with Landau, Ylla,

Brassaï Brassaï (; pseudonym of Gyula Halász; 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous H ...

, and Nora Dumas, but was forced to close the agency during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Landau had met on holiday in 1930, and introduced him to the other Hungarian photographers in Paris. After

Landau encouraged Grosset to restart Rapho. Landau died in

Book

Landau, Ergy (1955). ''Aujourd'hui la Chine''. Lausanne: La Guilde du Livre.

References

External links

Ergy Landau Pictures and Images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landau, Ergy 1896 births 1967 deaths Photographers from Budapest French photographers Hungarian women photographers Hungarian photographers Hungarian emigrants to France 20th-century women photographers French women photographers