Balthazar Korab


Balthazar Korab was a Hungarian-American photographer based in Detroit, Michigan, specializing in architectural, art and landscape photography.

Biography

Korab was born in Budapest, Hungary, and migrated to France after fleeing from Hungary's communist government in 1949. At the École des beaux-arts in Paris, he completed a diploma of architecture in 1954. For a time, he was a journeyman under the direction of leading European architects, including Le Corbusier.
In 1955, Korab arrived in the United States, and Eero Saarinen employed him as an architect, where his skill with a camera lead to him becoming responsible for the integration of photography into the architectural design process. The architectural community in Detroit embraced Korab's career, and many firms retained him to document their building and private home projects. In 1956, he was awarded fourth place in the international design competition for the Sydney Opera House. Korab documented the 1966 flood of the Arno in Florence, Italy.
In 1994, American President Bill Clinton presented a portfolio of Balthazar Korab's photography to Árpád Göncz, the president of Hungary. Korab died on January 15, 2013, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He is survived by his wife Monica and two children, Christian and Alexandra. Today, Korab's collection is held at the Library of Congress.

Highlights of architectural photography

Honors and career highlights