What is a photo like, if having Hungarian origin?

If somebody - filled with confidence - has the courage to judge photo-culture and photographers’ efficiency of a nation or a country, there are three ways to do it. Explaining the first, so called „accidental aspect”, I do not want to spend much time, as I highly reject when somebody with a lack of knowledge holds a very confident opinion. Let’s not talk about it! There are still two others remained. Any of them can be interesting to analyse. One of them has a method to list the nation’s famous photographers having the most outstanding works, and it concludes that there are for example 8 good Hungarian photographers among the best 100 of the world. Considering that population of Hungary does not exceed the number of inhabitants of a huge international metropolis, it is an achievement. This approach is acceptable and usual. Representatives of the other method get to know through long and persistent researches those photographers that because of bad luck, misadventure, historical event or of their own softness did not succeed to acquire fame in spite of the fact that standard of their photos and their work to help developing photography would entitle them for high acknowledgement. Lots of follow-up works, good sense of judgement and ability to decision-making are required, but this method can provide many joyful surprises as well. This way of approach is not very common.

This exhibition tries to help people to form their opinion with integrating the two above described methods. On one hand outstanding Hungarian photographers are presented, they are well-known and honoured by everybody from Patagonia to tundra of Northern regions. For example: André Kertész, Brassai, László Moholy Nagy, Robert Capa and his younger brother Cornell, Márton Munkácsi, György Kepes and many others.

They are considered as lighthouse in the oceans of billions photographers. Their photos can be seen at many exhibitions everywhere in the world. There are hundreds of books, albums and magazines dealing with them. Though their photos were physically taken at a fraction of moment, they can be considered as a chain to eternity. If somebody comes to showrooms of Opel-villa to see in original works of artist representing classical photography will sure not be turned down. On the other hand the exhibition shows a selection from works of not very well-known photographers that deserves high attention, but somehow they have not been in the centre of world-interest. József Pécsi, Károly Escher, Rudolf Balogh, Olga Máté or Kata Kálmán are all representatives of this group. We hope this exhibition helps to spread their names.

And - let us confess - the exhibition-organisers’ open purpose is to show and get to know the fact: a small number of the most outstanding artists could become famous only with the steady background base of the good ones. Hungarian photography is well-acknowledged worldwide not only because it has many famous representatives, but because it has good background including lots of talented photographers.

Unifying these two approaches an exclusive selection of 20th century’s Hungarian photography is presented for visitors interested of photography theories. It is worth to come in Rüsselheim and see the „Photographers, Made in Hungary” exhibition also for those that are not very much involved in photo-art, because they can see an aspect of not very well-known weekdays and holidays of a nation being geographically close.

Kincses Károly