Mai Manó Gallery ("Kis Manó")

I asked members of the great generation of Hungarian photographers to pose with the most beloved shot of their career. My models have always been that: my models, my paragons, representing originality and refinedness. I grew up on their photographs; I learned a lot from their sensitivity, acquiring a respect for reality, as well as the ways of looking at things. This generation stands for those professional and human standards that I try to live by whenever I pick up the camera. As the member of a younger generation of photographers, I believe that the photos of this exhibition bear testimony to my sincere respect towards the photographers, the models of this series.

URBÁN Ádám

I was born in Budapest in 1976. I graduated from Dózsa György High School in 1995; here, I organized my first exhibition with the main theme Cheating in class and this is when I started to get involved more seriously with the art of photography. I gained a more hands-on experience with the genre when I attended Péter Záray’s photo studio as his assistant. After graduation and with the professional experience acquired, I occupied a position at Fitness Magazin, taking object photos, as well as portraits and reportage.
In 1995, my musician and journalist friend and I founded FreeeMagazin, which, at that time, fulfilled a so-called mission in the domestic entertainment industry since techno culture was just about to develop in Hungary. I was responsible with front-page (cover) photos, fashion-related materials, as well as reports from domestic and international techno-parties. Through the magazine I got in touch with several record labels, fashion companies, advertising agencies and, thanks to these connections, I made photos for the CD covers of different artists and rock bands, press reviews. I even took part in the production process of fashion magazines and advertising materials. During this time I produced fashion photos that participated at the 1996 Press Photo Expo and in the “Ev fotoi 1995” (Photos of the Year 1995) book.
From 1998, I worked with several advertising agencies as a contract photographer.
In 2001 I was the founder-member of the Meridian Creative Association that assembles musicians, graphic artists, and visual artists. The aim is encouraging participation of national artists in projects abroad.
In 2005 I was awarded the most creative prize for an art-piece in the RTL Klub TV channel’s campaign for the pieces “Gumicsirke (Rubber chicken)”, “Aranycsirke (Golden chicken)” complex imaged film photos. Also, I received Golden Blade prize for professional advertising acknowledgement at the Golden Blade Creative Festival.
I am especially proud of my provocative series on poet György Faludy and his much younger wife, Fanny Faludy in 2002; the series was awarded at the Hungarian Press Photo contest in the social portraiture category. The photos accompanied by the poems written by the poet were published in the form of a book as well.
Over the last few years, I have been interested in applied photography, portrait and documentary photography. I am continuously working on elaborating more projects.

Solo exhibitions:
2002 "Ne kábíts!" Nyugati téri aluljáró, Budapest
2009 Kópia Galéria, Budapest
2012 "PéldaKÉPek" Magyar Fotográfusok Háza a Mai Manó Galéria

Group exhibitions:
1996 Sajtófotó 1995, Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest
1996 Fiatalok Fotóművészeti Stúdiója, Tölgyfa Galéria, Budapest
2000 Sajtófotó 1999, Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest
2003 Sajtófotó 2002, Néprajzi Múzeum, Budapest
2005 "Klasszikus harmóniák" Kortárs Leica fotótárlat
2008 "Kiszállni", Bringás fotók a Kodály körönd kerítésein, Budapest
2008 "100 Iszlám" Széchenyi tér, Pécs
2009 Green Art for Peace, Andrássy út, Budapest
2009 National Geographic kiállítás, West End, Budapest
2009 “Fény” kiállítás, Boulevardésbrezsnyev Galéria, Budapest
2010 “Garadosi panorama”, Csíkszereda
2011 “Nagyszeben és környéke”, Szeben, Tanács tornya
2011 “Együtt-lét” fotókiállítás,Budapest, Kossuth tér
2012 “Nagyszeben és környéke” Marosvásárhely, Bernády ház
2012 “Nagyszeben és környéke” Medgyes, Millennium Ház

Publications, photo albums:
1996 Photos of the Year 1995
2000 Photos of the Year 1999
2000 Csillagvilág az ezredfordulón (Sunbooks Kiadó)
2001 Photos of the Year 2000
2002 Photos of the Year 2001
2002 Playboy Nagyinterjúk (Map Magazin Kiadó)
2002 Faludy György és Faludy Fanny (Interbooks Kiadó)
2007 Ervin Lázár: Napló (Diary) (Osiris Kiadó)
2008 Photos of the Year 2007
2008 „Weingüter in Östereich und Ungarn” Borkalaúz (Hoffmann-Verlag)
2009 Photos of the Year 2008
2011 The Printed Blog Russia

Awards:
2009 Kossuth Kiadó | Cultiris photo contest, Creative applied photography, 1st prize

Memberships:
Association of Hungarian Photo-artists
National Association of Hungarian Creative Artists