Martin Munkácsi (born Mermelstein Márton; 18 May 1896 – 13 July 1963) was a Hungarian photographer who worked in Germany (1928–1934) and the United States, where he was based in New York City.
He traveled to Turkey, Sicily, Egypt, London, New York and Liberia, for photo spreads in Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung.
On 21 March 1933, he photographed the fateful Day of Potsdam, when the aged President Paul von Hindenburg handed Germany over to Adolf Hitler.
He was discovered by Carmel Snow, who in 1933 persuaded him to photograph the Harper's Bazaar December edition's 'Palm Beach' bathing suit issue.
[citation needed] In 1934, the Nazis nationalized Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, fired its Jewish editor-in-chief, Kurt Korff, and replaced its innovative photography with pictures of German troops.
Munkácsi's portraits include Katharine Hepburn, Leslie Howard, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Jane Russell, Louis Armstrong, and the definitive dance photograph of Fred Astaire.
[citation needed] Munkácsi died in poverty and controversy after suffering a heart attack while attending a soccer game at Randall’s Island in New York City.
[citation needed]Richard Avedon said of Munkácsi, He brought a taste for happiness and honesty and a love of women to what was, before him, a joyless, loveless, lying art.
[6] In 2009, the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York City staged a joint exhibit of photographs by Edward Steichen and Munkácsi.