SUMMARY 1999/01
György Boros writes about Hungary-based Lithuanian photographer Normantas Paulius: “He is a prominent figure of Lithuanian, Hungarian and universal photography. Languages, words and unprejudiced acquaintances and links must have led him to Buddhism. His photos evidence a multitude of threads, and all, the photographer, the anthropologist, the ethnographer, the sociologist, and the spectator, as well, take up their own thread.”
In his review of articles and essays by József Pécsi, György Sümegi notes that those mostly academic essays on photography are integral part of a photographer’s oeuvre. József Pécsi was not only photographer, publicist and teacher but also editor and five years with Magyar Fotográfia are an important milestone of his career.
“Facing a slap” - is the title of a report by József Makai on Dávid Lukács’s exhibition in the Polaroid Gallery. It is a series of very interesting photos, the portraits of negative heroes, losers and ill-fated figures of the past years, including the Prime Minister of the former government losing the last national elections or Kata Wermer student missing a school-year.
Péter Tímár keen on aviation, reports on two pilots actively involved in photographing: for Attila Kositzky a long-time fighter pilot, and also chief-of-general staff of Hungarian Armed Forces for some time, aerial photography has also involved risk: Péter Besenyei holder of world aerobatics championship, takes hundreds of aerial photos while participating at air shows abroad.
Our series of reports on theses by graduates of the joint postgraduate training course at the Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian National Museum, is drawing to a close. In her thesis on Ottó Kiss, Ida Kovács portrays a portrait photographer less known to today’s generations. “The best of an oeuvre of 15 years is an integral part of Hungarian photography” Ida Kovács points out.
In an interview “People in Russia still believe...”, Sándor Bacskai interviews Lenke Szilágyi a noteworthy figure of the middle-aged generation, going her own way, and very proud of her independence both as a person and as an artist
In “From the Spitzbergas to the East Indian Islands” Judit Varga reports on globetrotter Oszkár Vojnich. Born to nobleman, Vojnich devoted himself to travelling, sharing his experiences and adventures with the Reader in travel books richly illustrated with photographs. You may not call him a photographer, however, his photos stored in the museums hint at a brilliant observer.
Zoltán Fejér visited a Nikon plant in Bangkok, and reports on what he has seen in Nikon Thailand Co. Ltd. in Rojana: in addition to compact cameras, zoom lenses and weapon telescopes, 30,000 Nikon Pronea S cameras are produced a month in the plant. In another article, “This is how you get to the stars...”, Zoltán Fejér commemorates Sándor Majoros one-time designer of Gamma Works, prominent expert in Hungarian optical research and development.
Book reviews: Béla Albertini reviews “Other World” by Judit M. Horváth and György Stalter, and Vienna-based Margarethe Szeless in turn reviews Albertini’s comprehensive work on the history of Hungarian sociophotography.
Sándor Bacskai reviews György Kreilisheim’s essays edited by the Vintage Gallery, and an album compiled based on the “Homonnai legacy”; and Tamás Tarján reviews Privátfotó (Dictionary of Symbols) by György Szegő editor of Fotóm?vészet.
In his essay “Signals from the shore”, Peter Dobai commemorates Iván Rozgonyi one-timer editor-in-chief of Fotóművészet.
Ferenc Bágyi is presented in an interview “It is like hunting”. The pictures of the natural photographer living in Germany, were photographed in Alaska.
