The way Hungarians Look / Lo sguardo Ungherese / Regard Hongrois / Magyar tekintet
(2001,2002)
 

INTRODUCTION

What will happen when you take this book in hand and start to glance throught it?

We don’t know it, we cannot know it.

We want to show what the Hungarian or those acknowledging themselves as Hungarian photographers saw, imagined and photographed between 1858 and 2001 how they rendered pictures, how they looked and showed themselves and each other in the moments of the 19th and 20th centuries photographs. One and a half centuries of Hungarian photography come to light in self-portraits, portraits and photographs selected from life-works. This selection is fragmentary of course since it is a one-time culling from all the material available, so it displays the diversification rather than the whole.

Among the authors of the chosen photographs Kertész Andor is known all over the world as André Kertész, Halász Gyula as Brassai, Moholy-Nagy László as Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Friedmann Endre Ernő as Robert Capa, Almásy Pál as Paul Almásy, or Kepes György as György Kepes.

Althought all were contemporary photographers, others’ names remained obscure because they lived all their life and pursued their profession in Hungary. In the first half of the 20th century to live in Hungary was to be unknown despite the talent so apparent in the photographs. If one has ever heard of Angelo, Escher Károly, Pécsi József. Hevesy Iván or Kálmán Kata, it is thanks to Kincses Károly and Kolta Magdolna. For ten years now, they have arranged exhibitions in Hungary and abroad, published books and catalogues of the photographs that can be found in the collection of the Hungarian Museum of Photography.

Looking at the photographs taken during the second half of the last century we ultimately arrive at the artists of today who, having established their lives’ work, teach and educate in their unique styles, attitudes and personalities. The world could not discover the talents of these Hungarian photographers, who achieved fame and gradually acknowledgement in Hungary, since histoy not even in the second half of the 20th century allowed artists to achieve fame while in the prime of their creative lives.

Other photographers are still unknown in the world as well as in Hungary, since they have just strated to evolve their talent in their profession. We would like if this book stirs a measure of dissatisfaction with its in completeness anhd that the curious will look deeper into this rich history. We hope it is a first step for many who will compare today’s artists with the past masters and arrive at an understanding of how Hungarians see the world and how they have composed that vision in photography.

What will mhappen when you take this book in hand and turn its pages? Perhaps, what we hope.

Gabriella Csizek