50 Amazing Black and White Photographs of the World in the 1920s and 1930s Through Martin Munkacsi's Lens

In his day, the Hungarian Martin Munkacsi (1896–1963) was one of the most famous photographers in the world. His dynamic photographs of sports, entertainers, politics, and street life in Germany and Hungary from the late 1920s and 1930s, were taken in a new, freewheeling style that captured the speed and movement of the modern era. Many of those early photographs were published in German photo weeklies, where Munkacsi made his reputation doing reportage, often from exotic locales.

In 1933, Munkacsi turned his energetic style to fashion photography, making images of models running on the beach. Those pictures revolutionized fashion photography with their informality and vitality. Soon after he was offered a contract by Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper's Bazaar, and he left for New York, where he made his fame and fortune.

Eva Szaplone in a rumbleseat, 1932

Fun on the beach—Lunabad, Berlin, 1930

Summer on the beach. A little girl opened the laces of her mother's slippers, 1929

Two women sunbathing, ca. 1929

Lovely autumn: the last warm rays of sunshine, ca. 1929

Greta Garbo on vacation, ca. 1932

Nude with Parasol, Harper’s Bazaar, July 1935

In the Air, Harper's Bazaar, 1935

Women spectators, 1928

The Dance Team of Tibor von Halmay and Eva Sylt, ca. 1931

Opening of Parliament on March 21, 1933, 'Potsdam Day'—"The German Army marches out," 1933

Jumping fox terrier, ca. 1930

Dolores Del Rio, 1936

Choked with coffee, Barzil, 1932

Marlene Dietrich, 1936-40

Carole Lombard, Hollywood, 1937

Reflection in a motorcycle mirror, Berlin, c. 1929

ca. 1928

Motorcyclist, Budapest, 1923

At 100 Kilometers - Driver in Hungarian Tourist Trophy Race, 1929

The goalkeeper, 1928

Dancer on stage, 1930

Dancers in Seville. 1930

Movable lifeguard tower, Germany, c.1929

Palermo Procession, Sicily, 1927

Procession, Ernö Vadas, Budapest, 1934

Leni Riefenstahl, 1931

Working toward a Greater New York, 1940

1928

Children playing, Madrid, 1930

Girls dancing in the streets, Budapest, 1923

Cheese Market, Netherlands

Berlin, 1929

Street scene, 1928

Olivia de Havilland, 1930

Katherine Hepburn, 1935

Vacation fun, Germany, 1929

Turkey, 1929

Turkey, 1929

Paris, ca. 1927