“They had used graphic arts in their magazine but had never used photography and wanted me to photograph women. Of course I told them I liked the idea - I liked women too. I thought I could do something nice using my ideas about distorting the human figure. The editor was excited and promised to provide everything I would need, model, studio, everything. The studio was arranged with two large circus mirrors which were quite beautiful in themselves. Originally there were two women for contrast the young and the old - then I settled on one. She was a society girl in Paris, a White Russian. The older model was a cabaret dancer. I photographed the young woman over a period of four weeks, usually twice a week. I would develop glass plates and make prints for myself. When I showed them to the model, she told me she was quite sure that it was not her in all of the photographs. When I exhausted the possibilities of the mirror after making about 200 negatives, I stopped.”
~André Kertész
(1894-1985)
As quoted in André Kertész: Of Paris and New York by Sandra S. Phillips, David Travis, and Weston J. Naef, André Kertész first experimented with the notion of “distortion” in 1917 with his celebrated Underwater Swimmer. He returned to the theme sixteen years later while living in Paris, when he was commissioned by the magazine Le Sourire. Here, in his own words, is the story of how the series came to be. I have always thought Distortion No. 6 to be the most elegant, seductive, and beautiful of the series, with its exquisite elongation of the torso and hand.
