SUMMARY– 2020/4

Gábor ÉBLI: Orange peeling in the library – Photo based contemporary art from the collection of György Pálfi
Budapest-based businessman György Pálfi has been buying contemporary art for about two decades now, with photographic positions presented already at the first show of his collection, in 2008. The current article turns to his recent international acquisitions.

Zsuzsa Farkas: Hungarian Private Collectors–An interview with Dr. Péter Sereg
Dr. Péter Sereg's collection focuses on portraits of famous Hungarians in the 19th century. Zsuzsa Farkas outlines the beginnings, the growth and the aspects of the collection based on an interview with the collector.

Zoltán FEJER: The Modern (Obsolete) Robot Camera
Zoltán Fejér introduces the readers to a special method of roll film winding in the this article of our series on the history photography technology. Roll film winding with a spring motor drive was important in cases, where taking pictures in quick succession was more important, than the artistic quality. The article introduces the reader to the development, the manufacturing and the market history of Robot brand cameras.

Klára FOGARASI: The private pictures of the Borgula family of photographers in Szekszárd
Klára Fogarasi focuses on a family of photographers in this article. The family gave photographers to this town in Tolna County through several generations. The article focuses on the family’s position in the town, the history of the family, their private life and the way the profession was passed on.

Judit Gellér: Photo Books. Interviews IV –"It's Behind " Handbook to the Stars by–Péter Puklus–Second Edition
Judit Gellér talks to Péter Puklus in the latest part of her series on the occasion that the Handbook to the Stars was published for the second time, which is quite remarkable in itself. The reader has a rare opportunity, since the in-depth interview reveals many details about Péter Puklus's working method, his relationship with galleries and books, and his personal feelings.

Zsuzsanna Kemenesi: Celebrated by the Most Celebrated–Éva Besnyő’s Exhibition Personal Distance by
Éva Besnyő (1910–2003) lived through two world wars, perhaps that is why her name is associated with the exploration of social problems. However, we cannot forget about the sensitivity that her self-portraits suggest. As Éva Besnyő writes: "I am rather a person than a photographer." Her self-portraits combine different concepts of beauty, the beauty of life, man and art. Éva Besnyő has been characterized from the beginning by an openness towards the toolkit of society and she has never lost interest in public life. Her professional identity is characterized by being a reflective person, but she discreetly composed her photographs.

Anne Kotzan: Analogies–Bernd and Hilla Becher, Peter Weller, August Sander– Industrial Landscapes, Buildings, Portraits
In Cologne, the background of the exhibition Analogies of the Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur Köln is the Siegerland region and the town of Siegen. The exhibition presents three photographers side by side, who were born in this region and for whom the mining industry was dominant in their lives. The first pictures of Peter Weller, August Sander and Bernd Becher were taken in this countryside. They did not know each other personally, yet the two older photographers had a great influence on the work of the young Bernd and Hilla Becher, who are known worldwide today as the founders of the Düsseldorf School. The concept of the exhibition was provided by a common initial space, which gave an opportunity to explore interesting parallels.

Zsolt Kozma : The Aesthetics of Superposition – the stake of the experiment - On Zoltán Vadászi’s works
Artist and biomedical engineer Zoltán Vadászi carries out his photographic experiments from an uncommon position. While artists working in the crossover areas of art and science are, in most cases, artists who use scientific tools and methods in their creative research, Vadászi comes from science and uses his expertise in cutting-edge science and technology in his artistic experiments. Nevertheless, he is certainly not a scientist first and an artist second – his presence in both fields can most adequately be described with the term “superposition”, adopted here as a metaphor from quantum physics. The adequacy of the term here is reinforced by the fact that, in his project discussed in the article, Vadászi uses MRI equipment to eliminate the position of the observer in the image-making process, in order to record and demonstrate kind of superposition, also opening the spectrum for imagining and demonstrating parallel presences and simultaneous realities. Inspired by Vadászi’s concept, the article proposes presenting his oeuvre as parallel, open-ended realities in a solo exhibition, rather than in a chronological or other order. The author then goes on to show how this artist’s with works could potentially find their context in a group show of fellow creators, such as Tamás Waliczky or Attila Csörgő.

Gábor PFISZTNER: What is “Fine-art Photography”? An Attempt to Define a Concept
The phrase “fine-art photography” is taken for granted in the professional literature in our everyday life. But what does this concept mean? What makes an image part of fine-art photography? Based on the creator’s intention or because it is shown in a museum? Perhaps because we see it so many times or because it was made 150 years ago? What does this concept stand for? What are the characteristics, if any, that make us consider something belonging to fine-art photography? Gábor Pfisztner's essay attempts to raise questions about an essential conceptual issue from this aspect.

Mihály Surányi: Contacts of our fantasy – EXITUS 3.1
Máté Diósi is a characteristic representative of contemporary Hungarian photography. Mihály Surányi’s article analyses Diósi’s three series made in recent years. These series focus on death and destruction from different aspects. We can read about what the connection between social responsibility and media experimentation means in the works of the artist, as well as what is the significance of the phantasy of contemporary designers of computer games in the works of Diósi.

Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák: Marcell Piti’s Variations of a Landscape of by
Zsuzsanna Szegedy-Maszák’s article gives a thorough overall analysis of Marcell Piti's work, the background of each series and the artist's working method. She sensitively analyses the concepts realized through each series and their relationship to our present life. The writing also reveals, how an artist born and raised in the digital age relates to pictures, through the way he creates images from digital raw materials.