SUMMARY– 2017/3

This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Irving Penn. On this occasion, monumental exhibitions have been organised from his works both at MOMA and at the Grand Palais in Paris. In a passionate article born from his personal impressions gathered at the exhibition, Tamás Schild analyses Irving Penn’s relationship with photography, the image, the profession and professional commitment as such. He presents Irving Penn to the readers not only on the basis of his works, but also from the perspective of his human and artistic attitudes.

This year eleven students graduated from the Photography Department of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. Rita Somosi offers an analysis of the diploma works of these eleven ―naturally quite different― artists in her article. She investigates their choice of topic, approach and conceptual elaboration as well as the elements displayed or absent, and the message conveyed. Her article contains the reflexions of a professional who seeks objectivity, hence keeping a sophisticated distance from the works created.

The Viennese MUMOK dedicated a significant exhibition, Woman to the feminist avant-garde of the 70s with the help of the works of art of Verbung Sammlung. The exhibition has been systematically analysed by Andrea Bordács. Parallel to that, her article also discusses the most emblematic artists and creations of this trend. In the introduction of the article, the author outlines the intellectual background in which the works exhibited were created, i.e. contemporaneous feminist trends.

Ludwig Museum organised an exhibition entitled Parallel Avant-garde from the works of the members of Pécsi Műhely. Róna Kopeczky’s article, related to the event created by organisers Attila T. Doboviczki and József Készman, examines primarily the geometrical and serial aspects of the works of the artists of Pécsi Műhely (Ferenc Ficzek, Károly Halász, Károly Kismányoky, Sándor Pinczehelyi and Kálmán Szijártó), mostly on the basis of their works in the possession of private galleries.

In this number we publish the second and final part of Béla Albertini's article, in which he analyses the activity of the photography group of Munka-k in the period between 1928 and 1930.

Daniël Dewaele considers photos his tools, as documents that he uses for his heavily anthropology- and sociology-oriented projects. His conceptual series focus on phenomena that can be observed in the public social sphere. By turning them into series, he highlights them and makes them subject to investigation, calling attention to the possibility to explore them. Anne Kotzan presents the creative methodology and works of the Belgian photographer through three of his series.

Published on the occasion of Mathieu Pernot's recent personal exhibitions and book releases in France, this article aims to analyse the artist's creative approches in contemporary photography. Pernot's The Gorgan series, presented this year at the Rencontre d'Arles Photography Festival and published by Xavier Barral Editions, as well as his Survivances exhibition and published in a book entitled Dorica castra by Filigranes Editions, question the gypsy communities' history, tradition and role in Western and East-European territories. Pernot's work entitled En avion au-dessus de …, presented as part of the Grand Paris Photo Month 2017, also examine the uses of photographic image and challenges the bounderies of the medium. Orsolya Elek in her article suggests that artistic and scientific approches are largely similar in the sense that both need stereotypes and assumptions to be put aside, as seen in Mathieu Pernot's work.

Balázs Telek died two years ago in September. György Cséka in this article is trying to emphasise the main characteristic of his artistic and personal approach. Balázs Telek wasn't only an artist with extraordinary talent but the active organiser of the photographic scene in Hungary. As the article says, he was a renaissance type artist who was born on the border between the digital and analogue era. The arch of his art evolved from the most simple camera obscure studies, through the anamorph experiments to the photoplastiques.

Beatrix Philpott’s article about female photographers working in the 19th century adopts an entirely new perspective regarding their activity. Who were behind the photo studios operating under female names in this early period? Who were these women and what was their role? The article explores the role played by these women in the maintenance and operation of these studios in the 19th-century Hungary through case studies. The analysis yields a surprising result, which ―astonishing as it is for the man of the 21st century― corresponded to the customs of the age.

“Quasi-true” stories pique one’s curiosity in every profession. Some turn into urban legends while others just make it only into the miscellaneous news columns. If someone rectifies the authorship of a picture that has so long been attributed to József Pécsi, he will certainly alter our conception of photo history as well. This is something that concerns us, precisely: a public matter. Béla Albertini’s article does just that.

At this year’s Venice Biennale, the Golden Lion was awarded to Shirin Neshat. On this occasion, Andrea Bordács shares her thoughts in relation to The Home of My Eyes series exhibited at the Biennale. The article offers a brief overview of Shirin Neshat’s works up until now and their links with the above series.

What could a luxury camera be like, designed for ladies in the Age of Art Nouveau? A device of that sort appeared at one of the last auctions of Westlicht. Driven by his usual zeal, Zoltán Fejér investigates the circumstances in which this unique Certo Damen camera was manufactured in Dresden and naturally, its technical details. The article is a nice illustration of the relationship between the refined material culture of Art Nouveau and photography.