Eva Besnyö

Eva Besnyö’s life and work were not only influenced by Modernism the arts but also by the dramatic political movements and events of 20th century Europe such as Fascism, National Socialism, immigration and persecution. By the time the Hungarian-Jewish photographer arrived Berlin in 1930, she had made the two most momentous decisions of life: to make photography her profession and to leave Fascist Hungary forever. Modern art was a passion for her. She produced true masterpieces with her Rolleiflex during her expeditions around Berlin. When Besnyö immigrated to Amsterdam in 1932, she was one of the outstanding representatives of New Photography together with László Moholy-Nagy and Erwin Blumenfeld: her portraits, architectural views and landscapes have retained their intensity to this day. She worked as a photographer until the 1980s, and among her other roles as a chronicler of the Dolle Mina feminist movement. In the 1990s she won prestigious awards Germany and The Netherlands for her outstanding body of work.