Brassai (Gyula Halasz) September 9, 1899 - July 8, 1984

Brassai was born Gyula Halasz September 9, 1899 in Brasso, Hungary (now part of Romania) Brassai is the pseudonym that Gyula Halsz went by later on in life meaning “of Brasso” As a young man, he studied painting and sculpting at the Acadamy of Fine Arts in Budapest 1924 he moved to Paris and became a journalist While working he fell in love with Paris and began to photograph He felt that photography allowed him to express a completely different view of the world

Paris Photographs: Paris at Night Demonstrated Paris streets at night using extreme light conditions Created a social study by photographing the city’s nocturnal inhabitants: prostitutes, dancers, restaurant diners, music hall goers, etc. Photographed several pieces of graffiti from crumbling walls of buildings

Brassai photographed many of his friends including: Salvador Dali Pablo Picasso Henry Matisse Alberto Giacometti Jean Jenet

In 1940 when the German army occupied Paris, they insisted on Brassai getting a license for practicing photography Brassai refused, thus going back to drawing, which he did for the rest of his life He was also the author of 17 books and several articles Brassai died on July 8, 1984 in the south of France Although he had several accomplishments throughout the art world, he will always be most admired for his seedy pictures of the streets of Paris