TAMAS DEZSO:
NOTES FOR AN EPILOGUE
PRINT SALES GALLERY
17 APR
13 JUN 2015
The Photographers’ Gallery
16 - 18 Ramillies Street
London W1F 7LW
Oxford Circus
tpg.org.uk
TAMAS DEZSO
Notes for an Epilogue and Here, Anywhere comprise the first
UK exhibition from Hungarian photographer Tamas Dezso.
The legacy of Communism is a central preoccupation in
Dezso’s work having directly experienced the influence of
Soviet power during his childhood. Since 2009, the artist
has been documenting rapidly disappearing worlds in both
his native Hungary and neighbouring Romania.
Carefully balancing fine art photography and traditional
photojournalism, Dezso portrays universal phenomena such
as physical and intellectual isolation, survival and demise.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union a series of
sweeping political and economic reforms ended decades
of physical and intellectual oppression. Yet the promise of
change was soon replaced by disappointment and stagnation
as modernisation failed to take hold and unemployment
continued to soar. Waves of migration turned industrial
areas into ghost towns, fanning support for far right
political groups in Hungary while also generating feelings of
misplaced nostalgia throughout the region.
Neither series offers a portrait of a nation but rather a
careful examination of the decaying ruins of the Soviet era,
their effects on villages, communities and individuals and
the slow disappearance of centuries-old traditions.
EDITION INFORMATION
Prices start from £1200+ vat.
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 HELSINKI PHOTOGRAPHY BIENNIAL, HELSINKI, FINLAND
2013 ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES
2013 BLUE SKY GALLERY, PORTLAND, UNITED STATES
2013 ATHENS PHOTO FESTIVAL, ATHENS, GREECE
2012 BOZAR, PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS / CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
2012 VARFOK GALLERY, PROJECT ROOM, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
2011 DUKE UNIVERSITY, CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES, DURHAM, UNITED STATES
2011 NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART, SANTA FE, UNITED STATES
2011 ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES
2011 BIENNALE MEDIATIONS, POZNAN, POLAND
2011 HALF KING GALLERY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
2011 CHOBI MELA VI, DHAKA, BANGLADESH
2011 HUNGARIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE, BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA
2011 RAIFFEISEN GALLERY, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
2009 FOTO ART FESTIVAL, BIELSKO-BIALA, POLAND
2006 HUNGARIAN HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 AIPAD NEW YORK - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, NEW YORK CITY
2013 PARIS PHOTO - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, GRAND PALAIS, PARIS, FRANCE
2013 PARIS PHOTO LOS ANGELES - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, LOS ANGELES
2013 HUNGARIAN ART PHOTOGRAPHY, NATIONAL GALLERY, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
2013 TRANSHFORMATION, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, ATHENS, GREECE
2013 EXPO CHICAGO - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, NAVY PIER, CHICAGO
2012 UNM ART MUSEUM - RECONSIDERING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC MASTERPIECE, ALBUQUERQUE,
UNITED STATES
2012 INSIDE/OUTSIDE, ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES
2012 PHOTOIRELAND FESTIVAL, MAGAZINES ON THE WALL, DUBLIN, IRELAND
2012 PARIS PHOTO - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, GRAND PALAIS, PARIS, FRANCE
2012 PHOTOVILLE, PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS, BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK, NEW YORK CITY
2012 EXPO CHICAGO - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, NAVY PIER, CHICAGO
2012 KUNSTHAUS HAMBURG, JCE 10, HAMBURG, GERMANY
2012 AIPAD NEW YORK - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, NEW YORK CITY
2012 WHAT IS HUNGARIAN? - CONTEMPORARY ANSWERS, KUNSTHALLE, BUDAPEST
2012 BELA EDITIONS, JCE GRAND PRIZE, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
2012 TOWER MUSEUM, FOTO FOYLE, DERRY CITY, UNITED KINGDOM
2011 PARIS PHOTO - ROBERT KOCH GALLERY, GRAND PALAIS, PARIS, FRANCE
2011 THE TERRY O’NEILL TAG AWARDS, HOTSHOE GALLERY, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
2011 BIENNALE JEUNE CRÉATION EUROPÉENNE, MONTROUGE, PARIS, FRANCE
2011 BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL, WATERFRONT HALL, BELFAST, UNITED KINGDOM
2011 ULSAN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL, ULSAN, SOUTH KOREA
2011 YOUNG CONTEMPORARY STATEMENTS, PECS, HUNGARY
2011 BUDAPEST POSITIVE, HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
2010 NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL, POWERHOUSE ARENA, NEW YORK CITY
2010 EAST SIDE STORY – CHRONIQUES D’EUROPE CENTRALE, HSBC, PARIS, FRANCE
2010 FOTO8 SUMMER SHOW, HOST GALLERY, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
2010 LIVE SYNC. – SHANGHAI MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHANGHAI, CHINA
2010 CRANE KALMAN BRIGHTON GALLERY, BRIGHTON, UNITED KINGDOM
2010 PRESENT CONTINUOUS, GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART, CELJE, SLOVENIA
2009 ARTDEPOO GALLERY, TALLIN, ESTONIA
2009 TR54, TAMPERE, FINLAND
2009 LISHUI PHOTO FESTIVAL, LISHUI, CHINA
2009 PRESENT CONTINUOUS, FOTOFO, BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA
2008 CAJA DE LUZ, BARCELONA, SPAIN
2006 WORLD PRESS PHOTO 2006
2006 RISK, FOAM PHOTO MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
2006 BUDAPEST FEELING, KRAKOW PHOTO MONTH, KRAKOW, POLAND
2005 HUNGARY TODAY – FRANKFURT, BERLIN, GERMANY
FURTHER INFOMRATION
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, COVER, PORTFOLIO, REVIEW BY COLIN PANTALL, LONDON,
UNITED KINGDOM, FEBRUARY 2014
BLINK MAGAZINE, PUBLISHED BY ARAM KIM, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, FEBRUARY 2014
WIRED, RAW FILE, TEXT BY DOUG BIEREND, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, JANUARY 2014
20 MINUTOS, INTERVIEW BY ÁNXEL GROVE, BARCELONA, SPAIN, JANUARY 2014
OUR AGE IS THIRTEEN, TEXT BY CAROLE COEN, PARIS, FRANCE, JANUARY 2014
LENSCULTURE, CURATED AND EDITED BY JIM CASPER, PARIS, FRANCE, JANUARY 2014
THE GEORGIA REVIEW, COVER AND PORTFOLIO, REVIEW BY JENNY GROPP HESS, ATHENS, GA, UNITED
STATES, DECEMBER 2013
TURNONART, IVORYPRESS, INTERVIEW BY IGNACIO EVANGELISTA, MADRID, SPAIN, DECEMBER 2013
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, REVIEW BY KENNETH BAKER, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES,
NOVEMBER 2013
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY 29, BOOK COVER AND FEATURE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, NOVEMBER 2013
TIME MAGAZINE LIGHTBOX, TEXT BY ANDREW KATZ, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, OCTOBER 2013
SF WEEKLY, REVIEW BY JONATHAN CURIEL, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, OCTOBER 2013
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, REVIEW BY LAUREN GALLAGHER, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES,
OCTOBER 2013
THE FOX IS BLACK, TEXT BY PHILIP KENNEDY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER 2013
L1GHTB1TES, INTERVIEW BY GYORGY LASZLO, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, OCTOBER 2013
MUTANTSPACE, TEXT BY MORAY MAIR, CORK CITY, IRELAND, OCTOBER 2013
BUSINESS INSIDER, REVIEW BY HARRISON JACOBS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, OCTOBER 2013
INTERNAZIONALE, ROME, ITALY, OCTOBER 2013
GUP MAGAZINE, TEXT BY KATHERINE OKTOBER MATTHEWS, AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND, SEPTEMBER 2013
NOTES ON THE ROAD, TEXT BY KAREN LO, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, SEPTEMBER 2013
WALL STREET INTERNATIONAL, SEPTEMBER 2013
HUNGARIAN ART PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEW MILLENIUM, BOOK, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, JULY 2013
TIME MACHINE MAGAZINE, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, MAY 2013
PDN, PHOTO OF THE DAY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, MARCH 2013
GENTE DI FOTOGRAFIA, REVIEW BY FRANCO CARLISI, ROME, ITALY, JANUARY 2013
PRIX PICTET BOOK, POWER, TENEUES, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, NOVEMBER 2012
MOZGÓ VILÁG, REVIEW BY EMESE KÜRTI, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, NOVEMBER 2012
PDN, THE CURATOR, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, JULY 2012
THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE 6TH FLOOR, TEXT BY GAIL BICHLER, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, MAY 2012
DAYLIGHT MAGAZINE, INTERVIEW BY KATE LEVY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, MARCH 2012
FLASH ART HUNGARY, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, FEBRUARY 2012
LFI, LEICA MAGAZINE, BERLIN, GERMANY, FEBRUARY 2012
REPORTER OHNE GRENZEN YEARBOOK, PHOTO EDITOR: BARBARA STAUSS, BERLIN, GERMANY, FEBRUARY
2012
BURN MAGAZINE, UNITED STATES, DECEMBER 2011
ART BAY AREA, REVIEW BY CHERIE LOUISE TURNER, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, OCTOBER 2011
VISUAL ART SOURCE, REVIEW BY CHÉRIE LOUISE TURNER, SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, OCTOBER
2011
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, TEXT BY REBECCA HORNE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, JULY 2011
HOTSHOE MAGAZINE, TEXT BY BILL KOUWENHOVEN, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, JUNE 2011
REVIZOR, REVIEW BY EVA IBOS, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, JUNE 2011
TIME MAGAZINE LIGHTBOX, TEXT BY DEIRDRE VAN DYK, PHOTO EDITOR: ALEXANDER HO, NEW YORK,
UNITED STATES, APRIL, 2011
OJO DE PEZ, PHOTO EDITOR: TINA AHRENS, MADRID, SPAIN, NOVEMBER 2006
PDN PHOTO ANNUAL, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, SEPTEMBER 2006
SELECTED AWARDS
2013
2013
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2011
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY 29
NOMINATED FOR THE PRIX PICTET
NOMINATED FOR THE PRIX PICTET
FINALIST FOR THE 2012 LEICA OSKAR BARNACK AWARD
PHOTOLUCIDA TOP 50 AND SOLO EXHIBITION AWARD
PHOTO ESSAY WINNER, PDN’S THE CURATOR
PROJECT COMPETITION WINNER, 16TH ANNUAL CENTER AWARDS, SANTA FE, UNITED STATES
PROJECT PRIZE WINNER, DAYLIGHT/CDS PHOTO AWARDS
SELECTED PRESS
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Feb 2014
SELECTED PRESS
TIME MAGAZINE
03 10 2013
In a world defined by civil unrest, war and economic rollercoasters, Romania and its people go largely unnoticed.
The former Eastern Bloc nation that won its independence in December 1989, after a deadly two-week revolution
dropped the iron wall, is more associated today with striking gold-miners and a rampant stray-dog population,
which authorities are attempting to bring under control. But to Hungarian photographer Tamas Dezso, it’s the
transition period since then that’s most worth documenting.
Dezso, 35, was born in Budapest and had studied to become an engineer. But the freedom of photography was
too attractive, he says, so he began taking pictures. Dezso got his start with a political daily and then moved to
magazines; a decade ago, he was first commissioned for photojournalism in Romania by American and German
magazines. But years of similar work felt too constricting, so in 2008 he began pursuing independent works to
better express more complex ideas. For this project, and for the past four years, he has used Phase One cameras
and various Schneider Kreuznach lenses.
In Romania, he was quickly captivated by its untouched land, the sincerity of its people and the natural
relationship between the two. After beginning ‘Here, Anywhere’ in 2009 about Hungary’s changes during the same
transition, he decided to return to Romania for this series, ‘Epilogue.’ The goal: witness the impact of the shift
from communism to a central government now included in the European Union.
He characterizes the transition period as “awkward democratization that for the time being is burdened with the
unprocessed past.” And it’s the coexistence of change and congruity, he says, that intrigues him most and inspires
him to keep going back. Like the Hungary set, he’s traveling to sites in the periphery and meeting people whose
lives haven’t changed much since the realignment 24 years ago.
That means exploring massive, dilapidated factory ruins—built during aggressive industrialization—and spending
a lot of time in villages being deserted as residents leave for urban centers or other nations. Some of those people
who were left behind took to him, like Anastasia (slide 10) and Victor (slide 14) and Ciprian (slide 15). “They
immediately engage in a conversation, invite you into their homes, treat you as a family member after a few
minutes of acquaintance and tell you their most guarded secrets with embarrassing frankness, as if they had been
waiting for this occasion for some time,” he recalls. “They would immediately share their food, even if there was
little of it. They ask you to stay for dinner, for the night.”
For this series, which isn’t meant to be comprehensive but rather a sliver of the transition period, Dezso has been
traveling with writer Eszter Szablyar. She is penning the text of their planned book due out next year. The duo
has spoken extensively with their subjects, discussing their personal transitions within the nation’s shift, their
traditions that haven’t changed and their desires for Romania to remain as is. Despite their isolation, Dezso says
most villagers recall others who have dropped in—some with cameras—to capture their ways of life. “They don’t
pose but rather receive it with joy, appreciating the interest shown,” he adds. To him, that makes it all worth it.
SELECTED PRESS
WIRED MAGAZINE
03 10 2013
by Doug Bierend , January 2014
1. Can you tell me briefly about your interest in photography, as a documentarian and an artist? What work
inspires you generally, and Notes For an Epilogue specifically?
The mutual influence of documentary photography and fine art photography has concerned me for years. What
is exciting for me is that while presenting reality I admittedly ‘remove’ what I see and try to step over to another
quality, to use an artistic form of expression and thus generate extra meaning. Due to seeking this extra meaning, in
2009 I gave up working as a photojournalist after nearly ten years. The images I feel to be authentic and inspiring
are those which involve thorough absorption, have a personal bond in the background, and are able to endow
unique, non-recurrent stories with a universal meaning.
2. Can you give a brief description of the history of this region? What happened leading up to the images we
see in this series?
In Romania the system-changing revolution of 1989 ended the harshest dictatorship in eastern Europe. In that
country the Communist Party took over power in 1946, following World War II. Several hundred thousand people
were vilified, imprisoned and tortured during the years of Stalinism. Then through the agreement of the Soviet
and Romanian Communist Parties the occupying Soviet forces were withdrawn from the territory of Romania in
1958. When Nicolae Ceauşescu gained power in 1965 a totalitarian dictatorship was established and the cult of
personality in Romania increased to the extreme, while at the same time diplomatic gestures were made to the
outside world. In parallel with enforced industrialisation, Ceauşescu undermined the life of the villages and as a
consequence of compulsory exports introduced in order to repay loans taken from the West he had the population
starved, and the minorities and certain religious communities persecuted. A paranoid political leader, he maintained
a secret police force and a system of informers that encompassed the entire society, and he imprisoned everyone
who was suspicious or thought to be so. Although the 1989 revolution, which began with the execution of the
dictator, put an end to the communist dictatorship, it left in its wake many difficult issues. The long list reflecting
that legacy includes closed down and decaying monstrous factories, depopulating villages, much unemployment,
as well as an accumulation of locked up and unprocessed files. Accession to the European Union in 2007 presented
the country with further significant economic tasks and those of legal harmonisation. The series examines the
current transition period. It does not intend to present a comprehensive picture of Romania, but focuses on special
phenomena which have appeared as an accompanying aspect of modernisation. It simultaneously documents
the demolition of factories symbolising the former regime and the life of those who have been squeezed to the
periphery of society, and it renders the last residents of villages which are depopulating and aging due to the lack of
employment, along with their traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation for centuries.
SELECTED PRESS
WIRED CONTINUED
3. How did you get involved in photographing these parts of Romania? Was it difficult to gain access? How
many times did you visit them for the series?
A good ten years after the 1989 events during my commissions as a photojournalist I visited Romania several
times and the atmosphere and landscapes of the country strongly affected me. The signs of the slow depreciation
and the decay of the communist regime’s legacy could already be detected then. While I was working on this
theme in relation to Hungary, I began photographing the Romanian aspect of this transition period. Symbolic
buildings and former factories are disappearing and villages are becoming deserted at an incredible speed, which
urges their documentation. The recent years can be characterised by intensive research, but of course chance has
also played an important role during my nearly 30 visits to the country so far.
4. What do you mean when you say that residents are ‘pulling down the absurd edifices of their
environment’? Is this a destructive act, or more a transformation into something new?
Most factories and mines still functioned for years after the change of system. However, the economy, which
had operated on the basis of ideological principles and the often irrational concepts of communism, was slowly
replaced by a market-oriented economy. This obviously meant the closure of factories and mines which were
unsustainable for various reasons. In the cases where the ownership rights of industrial buildings were unsettled,
such locations became a survival ground for those living below the poverty line. People remove everything –
sellable iron, bricks and all reusable material – from the reinforced concrete monsters. In so far as these industrial
areas are sold, the new owners tend to raze the buildings to the ground and construct completely new buildings
and industrial plants to replace the old. The new owners, wanting to save the cost of demolition, often tacitly agree
to let the population living in deep poverty take away everything they can, like termites.
5. What did you learn from speaking to or working with the people in these images? Do they still feel the
shadow of the former communist authority in their lives?
During our conversations what we found most interesting was how much the precariousness of existence
overwrote the social traumas of the past. The period of communism, which was interlaced with the fear of each
other, the secret police and starvation, has by now advanced to the memory of safety in many people. Similarly
to other east European countries processing the previous system, opening the archives of the dictatorship and a
free survey of the files have remained in a preliminary stage for the time being. This lack of confronting the past
leads to suppressing feelings on an all-society level and, as in Hungary, it makes development difficult. Another
significant experience of the weeks spent in isolated villages has been to realise that time, similarly to the scale
of values, is computed in an entirely different way from that known in an accelerated, modern urban life. That is
reflected by long conversations in the evenings, items of clothing that are made by hand for months, and objects
that are preserved and used for centuries.
6. Is there a particular goal or statement you hope to achieve with this series?
My aim with this series is to render a world which may disappear for ever imperceptibly and very rapidly due to
the transitional nature of the era. By documenting the disintegration of the remains of communism in Romania and
the disappearance of small villages, that is via local contents, I would like to point to universal feelings such as
isolation and disillusionment, patience and hope.
SELECTED PRESS
IVORY PRESS
05.12.2013
by Ignacio Evangelista (Madrid, Spain)
1. I would say that the themes of your work are the classical photo-reportage topics, but from a very
contemporary perspective, sometimes closer to the artistic photography than to the press-photography.
Do you agree?
I entirely agree with this definition. The two series made in parallel about the disappearing worlds induced
by modernization in Romania and Hungary are making inquiries in a classic photojournalistic area, but are
observing matters from a different perspective and condensing them into a different kind of composition.
Around 2000 when I took up photography professionally I was looking at images in a rather obsessed manner.
Since visual education, without which our environment today is difficult to comprehend, is not at all part of the
Hungarian education system, that period was the equivalent of an individual self-educational course.
What are your most important influences? (Photographers and/or any other discipline).
Up to today Richard Avedon is the most complex personality for me. Looking at his portraits I always feel some
inexplicable force which is beyond technical and contextual perfection, and fascinates me whenever I see them.
I also very much like Joel Sternfeld’s and Josef Koudelka’s world of images. Factors affecting my work and
way of seeing have, of course, come from several directions. The music of Mozart or Verdi, a fine building or
a spot-on design can similarly open up new thoughts concerning my work. Novels by Ádám Bodor and Herta
Müller set in locations I have been to represent important experience concerning the Romanian series.
2. Your two most known series are “Here, anywhere” about Hungary and “Epilogue” about Romania:
could you tell which differences and what similarities are between the two series?
The two series examine the same transition period in respect of both countries. With regard to transition I am
examining what still visible and tangible traces have been left by the communist dictatorship after the 1989
revolutions that ended it, besides the processes of democratization and modernization. In parallel with this
principal theme, I am also examining the process whereby traditions passed on from generation to generation for
centuries are disappearing together with deserted villages. Geographical proximity, the power structure and its
characteristic features such as enforced industrialization, the construction of high-rise concrete residential blocks
and the exaggerations of dictatorial architecture have produced similarities, although Romania experienced
these factors at a faster pace and on a larger scale. In addition, since Romania is a far bigger country many
more hidden remains can be found in more outlying regions. A very important common aspect is that neither
series examines the respective country fully, it does not present what Hungary or Romania is like today, but in
what traces the aforementioned aspects of being in a transitory state can be observed. The approach is different
in as much as while in the case of Hungary I view what I see with criticism as a resident of the country and as
someone who knows the process well, in the case of Romania I am documenting the relevant phenomena rather
as an outside observer.
3. Many of the places you photograph seem like being in a 25 years ago time, and you say that many
people of those areas would like everything stays without changing. (“The duo has spoken extensively with
their subjects, discussing their personal transitions within the nation’s shift, their traditions that haven’t
changed and their desires for Romania to remain as is”) (from TIME lightbox) Do you think most of these
areas people, in some way miss the old soviet times when they were less free but maybe they had more
economic or material stability?
Observation of the revaluating and beautifying mechanisms of short-term historical memory is an interesting
experience, perhaps the most interesting in connection with the journeys undertaken in Romania. Of course, you
come across a similar phenomenon in Hungary, too. This false nostalgia has been produced by the unexpected
difficulties of present conditions and it reflects disillusionment and disappointment in the situation that had been
anticipated for a long time.
4. You have had impressive career success so far. You won awards like CENTER, Terry O´Neall, Leica, CDS
and have had publications in some important magazines as well as exhibitions. How do you “promote”
your work, your career? Do you propose it to the organizations, magazines, etc. are you very active in social
networks, or you have some kind of agent, or do you just wait for people to contact you?
The most important part of bringing my work to public attention has been ensured by the exhibitions of the
Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco, which has represented me since 2011, and its presence at various art fairs.
Previously I regularly sent works in response to important competitions and I have sent the material of the book
now under preparation to picture editors of several major online magazines.
5. Are you going to Portfolio Reviews? What do you think about them?
So far I have participated in just one portfolio review, which was when I won the Center Award in Santa Fe.
Because of the award I was given the opportunity to be able to show and briefly talk about my works with
prominent personalities of the profession and the industry. It was an interesting and important experience to listen
to the different opinions and observations in connection with my photographs. I highly appreciate and regard
as useful this form of meeting, this ad hoc forum which may even have a long-term effect. Direct feedback is at
least as important as the opportunity to ask directly. I recommend everyone to put themselves to the test at such a
review.
6. Don´t you think photography world is a little bit crazy? I mean: so many interesting photographers for a
not so big business (galleries, museums, opportunities...)
I think the same situation applies to painters, sculptors, architects, writers and the list could go on. Many would
like to be given attention and many would deserve it, but lots of things must come together to succeed in standing
out from the crowd. Today it is an absolute must for photographers who are not native English speakers to learn
English, without which you are at a disadvantage in terms of gaining and delivering important information.
However banal it may sound, when it comes to this point many photographers from eastern Europe exclude
themselves from the chance of getting on further. Besides continuous development, orientation and consistent
on-going work, luck of course also plays a role in advancing. In addition, it must not be forgotten that however
much it may appear that there are not enough opportunities compared to the mass of applicants, there have never
been so many galleries and museums exhibiting works by photographers. Photography has never before enjoyed
such high prestige.
7. Do you think the digital age has improve opportunities for photographers? In one way it is easier to be
connected and informed about opportunities, know others photographers´ work, etc. but, at the same time
is extremely easy to publish the work in some blog or similar. Can this provoke any kind of images inflation?
I mean, there are so many images and photographers in internet that is really difficult to “filter”? What do
you think?
The democratization of photography, which is often experienced as a dumping of images, is interesting rather
than oppressive for me. Continuously making pictures has become an independent language. It has nearly taken
the place of the role of written texts in people’s personal, daily communication, which reflects the extreme
acceleration of information delivery. With respect to photographs professionally made or of artistic value, I think
that presenting them online may have some impact and may call attention to some good works. However an
observant and proficient viewer is not cheated by looking at the internet. Quality or the lack of it can be detected
there as well.
8. How do you plan your trips? Do you have a pre-plan (places, schedule, dates, timing) or just improvise?
Thorough research preceded and has continued while making the series. Besides basic information gathering using
the internet, the author of the book, writer Eszter Szablyár, and I have been looking for references in books on
social sciences and ethnography, as well as in novels. Then we visit the locations we have researched. During our
trips we talk a lot to people living there and draw much from the stories that spread by word of mouth. But it also
happens that we come across places that have not been mentioned in any written sources.