FELLOWSHIP-WINNERS AND SHORTLISTED ARTISTS IN 2016

The jury of the Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2016 has awarded fellowships to Zsolt Ficsór, Viola Fátyol and Sára Erzsébet Timár for their entries titled “SOROKSÁR”, “If you have a heart, what you did to me, hurts you too” and “Culture house” respectively. This is the second year the fellowships are awarded, each including a grant of HUF 500,000. The jury has also shortlisted 3 artists, whose entries have been selected for the final phase of the competition.

The Robert Capa Photography Grand Prize Hungary was founded in October 2014 by the Capa Center in order to recognize the work of artists who produce an outstanding achievement in the field of Hungarian photography. The awards are decided in two stages by the jury of Hungarian and international professionals. In May, the jury announces the shortlist and the three authors to be awarded with a fellowship of HUF 500,000 each. In six months, the three fellows will report to the jury regarding the progress of their projects. Thus, in October, one of them will receive the grand prize, which includes an award of HUF 3.5 million.

FELLOWSHIPS 2016

SOROKSÁR

Ficsór Zsolt

ON THE SUMMER OF 2015, IT SEEM I COULD WORK IN THE 23TH DISTRICT. WE HAVE TO MAKE A CAMPAIGN OF THE MAYOR AND IF HE LIKES IT AND HE’S GONNA‘ MAKE IT, WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT. WE CAN BE HIS FULL TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS! IT SOUNDED GREAT AND MAYBE IT WON’T BE A BAD PAYED JOB, MAYBE IT’S WORTH IT IF THE PLACE WOULDN’T BE SO FAR. AS TIME WENT ON, MY PERSONAL ATTITUDE CHANGED ALSO. I LIKE TO USE THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT, EITHER I HAVE TO TRAVEL FOR HOURS. IT IS A GOOD IMPRESSION TO DISCOVER THE SUBURBS OF BUDAPEST, I HAVE GOT BORED OF THE INNER CIRCLES. IN THE BEGINNING I’M LIKE AS A NEWBIE. I DID MY JOB BUT ACTUALLY FELT THE WHOLE SURREAL SITUATION AND I DID START TO SHOOT PICTURES JUST FOR MY OWN ENTERTAINMENT AND TO PREVENT BOREDOM. AFTER A FEW OCCASION I STARTED TO HAVE GOOD FEELINGS ABOUT THIS JOB. OF COURSE IT WAS A TOTAL CURSE. I HAD TO TRAVEL A LOT, AND TO BRING MY WORKS ON CD-S, BUT I KNEW IF I’M THERE I WOULD PROBABLY FIND SOMETHING MUCH TO MY LIKING. THIS PLACE IS A TREASURE-HOUSE!

IF YOU HAVE A HEART, WHAT YOU DID TO ME, HURTS YOU TOO

Fátyol Viola

If you have a heart, what you did to me hurts you too / 2013- I came in contact with the Folk-song Choir of Vámospécs in 2013 and I soon became a part of the group. During this participatory observation I could study the everyday life of the commmunity, their way of working, traditionalist activities and their role in the local cultural life and local identity. It was important for me to analyze and demonstrate the milieu of the Hungarian countryside, to observe and understand the peculiar mood and cultural phenomena typical of the countryside. While I was following the events of the life of the group I naturally started to emotionally identify with them, so from the beginning my representation of the community was tinted by the forming friendly and emotional bonds. Thus the direction of the research soon turned to the individuals making up the community: I was interested in why the community was important for the women, what role it had in their lives, how they used their belonging to the group to process their life events. Meanwhile the women who became my friends provided me with advice on how to get through the difficulties of my own life, so from a certain point of view my time spent with the community and my work became a sort of therapy: I used my belonging to the the group to help proceed with my personal dramas, the same way as the women of the choir do. Our common work is still going on: the aunts familiarize me with their own traditional female roles and the way they bear them. Their participation in the folk-song choir is an intellectual activity and a self-expressive act with which they step out of the opportunities traditionally offered by their lives. This intellectual exit often seems to be a heroic energy investment in the milieu of the Hungarian countryside. This is why I consider the members of the folk-song choir such female role models, who in my work, besides preserving their own character, can become the allegorical figures of surviving and getting by as a woman. They embody the human mentality that overcomes the biggest problems, sets goals and does not regard life as a sequence of tasks to perform – not even if it is the expectation of society – but finds the possible ways of expression and self-expression, with which it aims to create new qualities. The project is currently divided into different chapters. In the documentary series the formal and informal appearances of the group, and the personal living space of the women and its motifs are reflected. The portrait series was made during singing with my own involvement. The text snippets are from the conversations of the past two and a half years: among these there are parts that shed light on the lives and often the tragedies of the women, and there is some advice on how to handle the problems of my own life. All three videos that have been completed so far are constucted scenes. Out of these the film called “Singing” focuses on the musical layer of the folk-singing circle phenomenon that I am studying. The “Stage” follows the development of the traditional semicircle stage-setting, the way the organic mass movement becomes a static form. In “Dressing” we put on and take off the different uniforms of the women's choir with Auntie Margit while we have a conversation with wavering content, in which we discuss our weight and back pain with the same matter-of-factness as her pain over his sibling’s death or her belief in God. In the continuation I plan to make a book that has dual function. I would like to tie the text messages of the women together with the photo series that came about throughout the years and which came about with the aunties frequent participation as creators. The collection of texts and the enrichment of the imagery is continuous, in the technical part of the making of the book, the editing of these would happen. The final work would be a lyrical collection of advice, a sequence of remonstrances, which from a certain point of view could be seen as a lyfestyle handbook. The textual content sometimes makes concrete suggestions about how to behave in certain situations or how to treat men. Other times it wishes to soothe, reduce the pent-up frustration of the listener/reader. It speaks universal truths while familiarizes you with the segments of individual fates, so a loose narrative is outlined from the aphoristic sentences. The texts are embedded in the already existing and coming about photoseries, which on the one hand follow the experiences lived through with the choir, and on the other hand explores the identification and testing of roles of the young artist/woman. It traces the theme of female roles and aging, but mostly it would be the chronicle of a story which is about how and with what love a community can accept an outsider.

Education 2012 - 2015 Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Doctoral School, Multimedia Art 2006 - 2011 Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Photography, BA+MA degree, Budapest, HU 2010 Willem de Kooning Academy, Erasmus Scholarship, Rotterdam, NL 2007 - 2012 MOME, Teacher training, Visual Art and Design Teacher 2001 - 2006 Eszterházy College, Teacher of Drawing and Visual Commmunication, Eger, HU Solo exhibitions 2016 // Stays between us, Ferenczy Múzeum, Szentendre 2015 // Photography (The Retoucher), joint exhibition with Anna Nemes, Trapéz Gallery, Budapest, HU 2015 // If you have a heart, what you did to me, hurts you too, B24 Gallery, Debrecen, HU 2015 // Looks familiar, Hungarian Cultural Institute, Bratislava, S 2014 // I and He/She, exhibition with Pál Gerber, Ferencvárosi Pincegaléria, Budapest, HU 2014 // In the Meantime, In Between Time, Faur Zsófi Gallery, Budapest, HU 2014 // Fieldwork, exhibition with Sári Ember, Labor Gallery, Budapest, HU 2012 // ’The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge’, Demo Gallery, Budapest, HU 2010 // Privacy, Project Space, Kunstverein für die Rheilande und Whestfalen, Düsseldorf, G 2009 // Mű-Terem Gallery, Debrecen, HU 2008 // Spiritusz Gallery, Budapest, HU Selected group exhibitions 2015 // Unsettled affairs of women, Institute of Contemporary Art - Dunaújváros 2014 // Second Skin, Visual Codes of Social Constructions, Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest, HU Private Nationalism, Gallery M21, Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Pécs, HU 2013 // Constellations - Portraits between Reality and Fiction, Fotogalerie Wien, A The Artist Is Present, Inda Gallery, Budapest, HU Present Continuous, Hungarian House of Photography, Budapest, HU In the Kitchen, in the Bed, in Public, Hungarian House of Photography, Budapest 2012 // The Hero, the Heroine and the Author, Ludwig Museum, Budapest New Wave Photography, Crypt Gallery, London, UK Landscapes speak the same language, Balassi Institut, Brussels, BL Danube – open book, Hungarian House of Photography, Budapest 2011 // ’Hey, our flag…’, Demo Gallery, Budapest Fresh 2011, Kogart House, Budapest, HU Danube – Open Book, Berlaymont, Brussels, BL 2010 // Experiments of Public Utility, Demo Gallery, Budapest Impulso, Várfok and Spiritusz Gallery, Budapest Interhuman Relations, Fotofestiwal, Lodz, PL Reality on Cloud 9, Balassi Institut - Hungarian Cultural Centre, Brussels Urban Traces, Universität der Künste, Berlin, D Paradogma, Várfok Gallery, Budapest 2009 // Essl Award, Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg, A Ad hoc (et nunc), Dorottya Gallery, Budapest Prizes, scholarships Residency of Ville de Paris, Cité Internationales des Arts, Paris, FR, 2015 Grant of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary, 2011 Erasmus Scholarship, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, NL, 2010 Essl Award, Vienna Insurance Group Special Invitation, 2009 Fresh art, Mű-Terem Gallery, 1st prize, 2008 8th ARC National Billboard Exhibition, 2nd prize, 2007 Memberships Studio of Young Photographers Association, Hungary Studio of Young Artists Association, Hungary

I came in contact with the Folk-song Choir of Vámospécs in 2013 and I soon became a part of the group. During this participatory observation I could study the everyday life of the commmunity, their way of working, traditionalist activities and their role in the local cultural life and local identity. While I was following the events of the life of the group I naturally started to emotionally identify with them, so from the beginning my representation of the community was tinted by the forming friendly and emotional bonds. Thus the direction of the research soon turned to the individuals making up the community: I was interested in why the community was important for the women, and how they used their belonging to the group to process their life events. They have become role models, as I consider their human mentality as an example to process one’s own life events.

CULTURE HOUSE

Timár Sára Erzsébet

Culture House - Project plan I have taken photographs of Hungarian cultural houses in my photograph project entitled Culture House. The reason why I have chosen this topic is because I have been carrying out historical research on the mechanism of the institution chain for the past two years especially focusing on the 1970’s political-, social- and cultural relations. My in-depth examination of the topic greatly functioned as a base for the interest and curiosity to the situation of these institutions, furthermore, it also strengthens me in being able to understand what I find within these buildings. The history of culture houses goes way back in time, however it really was the socialist general education that put them into a significant role, this is when today’s institution chain has become complete. Approximately, there are 3000 institutions for general education (cultural centers, cultural houses, clubs) in Hungary but in terms of their appearance, form of mechanism, their programs and attendance, they greatly differ from one another. In the past few years, many cultural houses have been renovated in Budapest as well as in other cities in the country and these were renewed or often completely changed both externally and program organization-wise. The number of those institutions that are stuck in their current state and have to function and execute their tasks in the given situation, or disappear altogether in the worst case, is also significant. In many buildings, time has stood still and as a sort of legacy they carry the atmosphere of the era that is now long gone. My interest is especially drawn to this peculiar situation, the co-existence of the hereditary past and present. I seek the visual presence of this within the building, emphasizing its oddity, piquancy and absurdity. Out of the registered institutions many are uninteresting, all designed the same, so primarily I look for those venues where these situations, scenery are present, i.e.: the old, not yet refurbished cultural houses. I take photographs of the inner spaces of the buildings as I believe that these layered historical traces are best to be discovered in the furnishing of places and their usage as well in the traces of visitors. I shall carry on with this approach, however in the following stage of the project, I would like to open towards the occurring events there and the visiting people’s characteristics and this is the reason why I revisit many venues and follow the events. I aim to acquaint myself with visiting people in certain cultural houses and I attend the programs organized by them so later I can include them in the photography. In certain places, the head of the institutions often shares stories of the house’s history, their memories and problems. I make notes during these conversations as well as write down my experiences every time and my ultimate aim is, in conjunction with my previous research, to write an essay on cultural houses as part of the project. So far I have contacted 25 institutions in Budapest and in the countryside as well and have taken photographs there. In the upcoming months, I shall continue the travels and wish to visit two institutions per week as my aim is to have the series reach around 80-100 buildings in order to be representative. The final form of the project will be a book that contains the essay as well as the photo series.

In Hungary, there are approximately 3000 cultural houses today. The institutional system’s history goes a long way back, however it was mostly the socialist general education that dedicated significant role to it. To satisfy present day’s requirements, many buildings have been renovated in the past couple of years – most of them however still carry the past system’s atmosphere, their halls and rooms bear a unique ambiance where the traces of past and present stories meet layered on one another. In these quite peculiar spaces happen even today many people’s cultural and spare time activities both in bigger cities and smaller towns. In a transition – our cultural houses today are found in their old function which is either lost, or kept and completed: they live on and operate but how and for how long is uncertain to know.

Finalists 2016

ENTRE DEUX MERS ( BETWEEN TWO TIDES )

Kasza Gábor

Entre deux mers ( Between two tides ) A photographic image as a document or evidence is the opportunity to get to know reality, facts or even truth. Where, however, are the boundaries of reality? What are the tools and limits of photography? How can the image be interpreted? What is the responsibility of authors and publishers? My series is an investigation of these questions where I would like to play with the language and rules of photography. I want to detach the spectators’ sense of reality. I want to question explanation of an image. Real and artificial, reality and illusion, truth and propaganda, useful and useless, order and chaos – I would like to contrast these concepts in this series. There are staged photographs in the collection, a pair created by two images. The goal of this concept is to create a diptych where the explanations of each image is different, and although they interpret same moment from different point of view, we finally define them as a single image. The points of view are the same as interpretations from two different witnesses. I create these images by synchronising the exposures of two cameras. Furthermore, I want to reflect on important social questions with this directed and staged situation. I try to approach this theme through relationships. There are obvious parallels between staged photography and movies. This is one of the reasons that I positioned the series to reference this visualisation and often use the idioms of the film noir genre. I try to generate newer explanations while analysing the connection of photography and the motion picture as well. Synopsis: My work process involves collecting images in this theme which I later select until I see a series can be whole and complete. I often go to visit the places and objects again and again in order to achieve the perfect weather, lights and mood. The staged photographs require a lot of arrangement. I make sketches of the possibilities and places. I search for characters. I try to make tests of the situations and map out some details in advance because it is important to see how they work beforehand. Sometimes it is a long process to get permission to take the photographs and to publish them. The parallel organisation of overcoming unexpected obstacles and surprising situations will develop this series step by step. I planned out approximately 20-30 single photographs and 6-7 diptychs to put in the final series. I have arranged to use almost all of them, but as I said I will make final selection only after seeing them all. Diversity, suitability of visual elements and avoiding unnecessary repetition are important considerations before choosing the final shots. My financial constraints mean I have to drop the most expensive elements of production, e.g. location rental, costumes, etc. The transport and stipends for the performers and crew are a major cost. I will make a book and exhibition from the series. I would like to use three different sizes where the important main images subordinate smaller images in this case.

Gábor Kasza I was born on 12 October, 1977 in Komárom, Hungary. After high-school I went to MUOSZ Bálint György Journalist School between 1996-1997, majoring in photojournalism. Upon graduation, I worked as a photojournalist for 3 years. Later I made portraits, advertisements and fashion photos for magazines. I was the Secretary of the Studio of Young Photographers (a section of the Association of Hungarian Photographers) between 2007-2009. I was the artistic director of the Cultiris – cultural photo agency and gallery from 2009 to 2011. I’m the initiator and organizer of the Fotoporta portfolio reviews and Fotófalu (Photovillage) foundation and summer school. Currently, I’m freelance. I live and work in Budapest. Exhibitions: Group exhibition 2014 Euroartphoto Palazzo delle Stelline, Milano, Italy 2014 Derkó - Pécsi Kunsthalle, Budapest 2013 My little cloud Dovin galery, Budapest 2013 Random 13 Design Terminál, Budapest 2013 JCE – Jeune Création Européenne Amarante, Portugal 2012 Photographie Contemporaine Hongroise 2.0 Institut Hongrois, Paris 2012 JCE – Jeune Création Européenne Salzburg, Austria 2012 What’s next Kogan gallery, Paris 2012 Crossover 3+1 Jinsun Gallery , Seoul, Korea 2012 JCE – Jeune Création Européenne Hamburg, Germany 2011 Young Artist Projekt 2011, Future Lab Daegu, Korea 2011 JCE – Jeune Création Européenne Montrouge, France 2011 Out of Life Fotofestiwal – Łódź , Poland 2010 Térfigyelő / FFS – Month of photography Fogasház, Budapest 2010 Pique-nique Holdudvar Galéria, Budapest 2010 Polaritás. Az InstArt csoport kiállítása. Artbázis,Budapest 2009 Fény / Light Bulevard és Brezsnyev Gallery,Budapest 2009 Regardez-moi / I’m back Artbázis,Budapest 2009 Spektroid / Instart csoport Tatabányi Múzeum, Tatabánya 2009 Szentendre. Art +Tavasz Erdész Galéria & Design, Szentendre, Hungary 2009 Regardez-moi / I’m back Immanence gallery, Paris 2009 A step beyond Galerie-treppenhaus,Erlangen, Germany 2009 FFS Refresh / Map Artbázis, Budapest 2008 A step beyond Month of photography, WAM desig center, Budapest 2008 Camera obscura House of Hungarian Photographers, Budapest 2008 FFS Refresh / Territory Artbázis , Budapest 2008 Falukép(e)zők Artbázis , Budapest 2008 Color space of summer II B55 Gallery, Budapest 2008 FFS Refresh / Stillife Artbázis, Budapest 2008 Tere / Estonian week Artbázis, Budapest 2007 FFS Bulevard and Brezsnyev Gallery,Budapest 2007 FFS V. Hungarian filmfestival, Tartu, Estonia 2007 FFS CIB bank head office, Budapest 2007 18:53 / FFS Kolta Gallery, Budapest 2007 InstArt group House of Hungarian Culture, Budapest 2006 Flowers in the plug. Lumen Gallery, Budapest (with: Levente Hermann , David Benforado,Alexander Tinei, Manolis Tsafos , Peter Németh ) 2004 Hungarian Press Photography Museum of Ethnography, Budapest 2003 Mobility (with Zoltán Vancsó and Miklós Gulyás) Gödör Club, Budapest 2002 Progressive fashion photography Institute of Contemporary Arts, Dunaújváros Solo Exhibitio 2013 okt Y MÜSZI, Budapest 2013 May Y Espace Krajcberg, Paris 2013 May Y Festival de l’Oh, Paris 2013 jan. Y Kogan Gallery, Paris 2012 feb. Y Central European House of Photography Bratislava, Slovakia 2011 jan Y House of Hungarian Photographers – Mai Manó House, Budapest 2005 nov Désirée ( Paris ) Nyitott Mühely , Budapest 2005 maj Celebration MU Theatre Gallery , Budapest 2002 Prostitute-Pimp series Cirko-Gejzír Movie Theatre Gallery, Budapest Selected publication: GUP magazine ABOUT Photography magazine A picture a day Getaddictedto Fubiz.net I-ref.de Philosophy magazine Flash Art Fahrenheit magazine Designyoutrust.com Fellowship: József Pécsi Fellowship, 2014 József Pécsi Fellowship, 2013 Cité International des Art, Paris 2012 József Pécsi Fellowship, 2011 Curator: -Phelwidek photo 2012 - Mindkettő/Both/Obidve http://www.phelwidek.com/ - Presenting the ouvre of photographer Lajos Kozák – 2011 Cultiris gallery, Hungarian House of Photography- Mai Mano House, Museum of Sport, Budapest Contact: E-mail:info@gaborkasza.com web: www.gaborkasza.com Hungary, 1066 Budapest, Lovag street 3.

A photographic image as a document or evidence is the opportunity to get to know reality, facts or even truth. Where, however, are the boundaries of reality? What are the tools and limits of photography? How can the image be interpreted? What is the responsibility of authors and publishers? My series is an investigation of these questions where I would like to play with the language and rules of photography. I want to detach the spectators’ sense of reality. I want to question explanation of an image. Real and artificial, reality and illusion, truth and propaganda, useful and useless, order and chaos – I would like to contrast these concepts in this series…

FREEDOM

László Bácsi Róbert

Freedom In positive psychology Flow is the complete absorption of what one does as it was stated by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. This is the optimal existing, the positive aspects of experiences – joy, creativity and the full involvement and enjoyment of ones activity. This rare subjective status can be reached when one fully concentrates on a task physically or mentally. According to the psychiatrist the joyful life is a special creation while the passive consumerism doesn’t offer real happiness and depth. The basic of the perfect experience is the “flow”, when one feels spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task. The researcher thinks that the activity becomes so joyful that one continues doing it no matter what. My series would introduce certain social groups, who experience the feeling of flow in their every day life. For many throwing social conventions away strengthens this feeling, but in general the freedom paired with a sport activity gives the perfect experience. I plan to write reports and interviews on the chosen group, with whom I would spend a long period of time in order to get to know the group’s inner dynamic and the individual stories of its members. The aim is to prepare a character arc of the people, of their voluntary lives and how they reach the “perfect sensation”. I would like to show how more and more people would like to get away from civilization, leaving the material well being behind and live in perfect harmony with nature. In October 2013 I photographed surfers living on the road in South France. During this assignment I’ve realized for these people surfing is not only a sport but also a lifestyle that assist to their freedom to be complete. They live in motorhomes and travel the world. They take on temporary or online jobs. They live on minimum wage but this doesn’t bother them, because it sets them free. They are the hippies of the 21st century and as they say: They follow the Sun. With the support of the Capa Grand Prize, I would like to search for more surfing groups or families and photograph their everyday lives. However I would like to expand my theme with photographing other extreme sport groups as well as they are trying to reach this prefect freedom, leaving their everyday lives behind, and doing everything they can to accomplish it. I would like to photograph rock climbers, paragliders, board riders and other groups that represent the hippie lifestyle. I plan to make a video of the shot material and I would also like to present the photos in a brochure and a possibly have an exhibition at the end.

Curriculum Vitae Personal details: Name: Róbert László Bácsi Date&Place of birth: 27th November 1978, Budapest E-mail: robertbacsi@gmail.com Web site: PICTORIAL COLLECTIVE www.pictorialcollective.hu Studies: 1997 - 1999 6. Industrial Polytechnic Institute - photography 1993 - 1997 Óbuda-Békásmegyer Secondary School Professional activity: 2011 - Freelance photojournalist 2009 - 2011 Crossroad - Photojournalist, vice photo editor 2004 - 2009 Hölgyvilág - Photojournalist, vice photo editor 2005 - 2006 Városképek – Cultural and society magazine of Szentendre - Photojournalist, photo editor 2000 - 2004 Max Photo Lab black and white developer 1999 – 2000 Magyar Hírlap – photo column (internship) Awards: 2016 Hungarian Press Photo Competition, Portrayal of society - documentary photography (stories) – 1st prize 2015 NKA Project grant 2012 NKA Project grant 2011 Loffice Portfolio Review - prize 2009 - 2011 József Pécsi Fine Art Photography Grant 2010 NPPA BOP 2010 Still Photo Winners Enterprise Picture Story (smaller markets) – 2nd prize 2009 Axelspringer Competition – Photojournalist of the Year award 2009 Photo District News – Travel Portrait category prize 2009 Hungarian Press Photo Competition, Portrayal of society - documentary photography (stories) – 2nd prize 2008 Príma Primisszima Junior Príma Prize 2008 Axelspringer Competition – Photojournalist of the Year award 2007 Hungarian Press Photo Competition - André Kertész Grand Prize, Best documentary photography with a focus on people 2007 Hungarian Press Photo Competition Portrait series – 1st prize 2007 Hungarian Press Photo Competition - Munkácsy Márton Special Prize for the best collection 2007 Axelspringer Competition – Special prize 2006 Axelspringer Competition – 1st and special prize 2006 Hungarian Press Photo Competition, Art, stories – 3rd prize 2005 Axelspringer Competition – 1st and 3rd díj 2000 Szentendrei Városi Pályázat – III. prize 2000 City of Szentendre Competition – 3rd prize 2000 Competition of the Local Government of Minorities – special prize 1998 32nd National Photo Competition of Pécs – 1st prize Exhibitions: 2013 Hungarian Press Photo exhibition 2011 Dom Fotografie Liptovský Mikuláš, House of Photography Liptovsky Mikulas group exhibition 2011 Hungarian House of Photography in Mai Mano House – Karabah exhibition 2009 Photos from the Himalaya,BIG galleria, Szentendre 2006 Gasworks, House of Future, Budapest 2005 Cityscapes, Szentendre 2003 Healers, Budapest Municipality 2002 Sziget, Budapest, Örökmozgó Cinema 2000 Exhibition of the Szentendre Competition, Szentendre 2000 Zsáka (individual exhibition), Szentendre SKILLS: • B category driving license • Microsoft Office, Adobe -Photoshop, Adobe-Lightroom, InDesgin Language skills: English – intermediate Hobbies: Photography, Computer, Music, Climbing,Travelling

My series would introduce certain social groups, who experience the feeling of flow in their every day life. For many throwing social conventions away strengthens this feeling, but in general the freedom paired with a sport activity gives the perfect experience. I plan to write reports and interviews on the chosen group, with whom I would spend a long period of time in order to get to know the group’s inner dynamic and the individual stories of its members. The aim is to prepare a character arc of the people, of their voluntary lives and how they reach the “perfect sensation”. I would like to show how more and more people would like to get away from civilization, leaving the material well being behind and live in perfect harmony with nature.

THE EPIC LOVE STORY OF A WARRIOR

Puklus Péter

“Tools are there to serve your ideas. I want to use the most perfect tool to express what I want to say, and if it’s dancing I will dance.” Peter Puklus - Extract from the press release at my solo show entitled "Unsafe to Dance" at C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany - on view between 06 February - 24 April 2016. http://www.co-berlin.org/en/peter-puklus-unsafe-dance The Epic Love Story of a Warrior The photo series entitled The Epic Love Story of a Warrior – A Trilogy and Epilogue follows the events and conflicts of the 20th century through the eyes of a Central and Eastern European family. Working on the series, I view the Central and Eastern European events of the 20th century as a domain of inspiration, while being aware that my family has been affected in terms of their stories experienced and told as well as their present. In making and presenting the photographs of the series, I am playing an associative game based on our collectively experienced history and the images we have imprinted in our minds about this period. With the goal of representing the complexity of the events and the (often random) correlations between them, the series blends arbitrarily selected moments and their transcriptions without boundaries of genre or style. The purpose of the series is to tell a story; a fictitious story that is based on actual events, but transformed by an associative process. Inspired by private stories and historical events, in The Epic Love Story of a Warrior I enlarge my artistic vocabulary to include complex, three-dimensional collages made up of sculpture, photography, film and installation. On a formal level, I highlight the striking references between avant-garde art and the political-social concepts of this period, which with their strong impact and tradition still have a big influence on the societies of this region today. I see the opportunity offered by Capa Center as a great help to be able to extend my project The Epic Love Story of a Warrior and to take advantages of its achievements in two different ways: By one hand I am planning to use the prize to be able to support my upcoming book 'The Epic Love Story of a Warrior' to be published by a London based publisher Bruno Ceschel - Self Publish Be Happy (SPBH) included in their Book Club program - and as you can imagine, this move require a certain budget, especially to design and to print the book will cost approximately 15.000-20.000 Euros. Also, the book will be presented to the public for the first time during the New York Art Book Fair, September 2016 in MOMA PS 1, New York. I am planning to personally be present at that event which would allow me to create a greater network for my practice. As it is stated in my CV, in the past few years I already had the chance to show my works in different ways to the public across of some of the most important European institutions related to photography, including FOAM, Amsterdam and C/O Berlin as well as in public and private art galleries including Photographers’ Gallery, London, Robert Morat Gallery, Berlin or Conrads Gallery, Düsseldorf. Thanks to these galleries and to Trapez Gallery, Budapest my works were already presented at various art fairs in Europe including ParisPhoto, Unseen, Art Rotterdam just to mention a few. Moreover I attended and introduced my books and photographs during different photo festivals in Athens, Hyères, Paris, Düsseldorf… By the other hand my current project The Epic Love Story of a Warrior is about to reach its limits: it is an extensive project including not only photographic works but sculptures, installations, videos, drawings and interactive multimedia implements as well − and all together will be presented in a book form, which is in preparation at the moment. During the creation of The Epic Love Story of a Warrior I mostly generated and constructed my images and objects in my studio: I locked myself into a space where I let my imagination to lead my practice. It took me almost seven years to achieve my goals and now I really feel the urge to find a new path to follow. I am thinking about to test and try different new ideas which include public spaces, street photography and field research. During the accomplishment of my plans I am willing to use ‘new’ documentary style photography simultaneously with sound recording and contemporary literature under the project titles New Folder and Evolution. Sincerely yours, Peter Puklus

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2016 New Works, Galerie Conrads, Düsseldorf, Germany Unsafe to Dance, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany One and a half meter, Robert Morat Gallery, Berlin, Germany 2015 Unseen Photo Fair and Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2014 Texts and Signs, Trapéz Gallery, Budapest, Hungary 2013 Handbook to the Stars, Foam 3h, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2012 Peter Puklus, Trapéz, Budapest, Hungary 2011 Handbook to the Stars, Lumen Gallery, Budapest, Hungary 2010 Budapest Eden, Photoport Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015 Cubism Prolonged, Art Plus Text, Budapest, Hungary Reframe Memory, Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece Unseen Dummy Award, Belfast Photography Festival, Belfast, Ireland Art Rotterdam, booth 26, Trapéz Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2014 Shaped Reality, Krokus Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia The Experiment: What is Hungarian Photographic Art, ICP, New York, USA Unseen Dummy Award, Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Foam’s Spotlight – 5 Years of Talent, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France Vienna Photobook Festival, Anzenberger Gallery, Vienna, Austria Reflected, Foam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Darmstadt Days of Photography, Darmstadt, Germany Fotografia Europea Festival, Reggio Emilia, Italy The Flood Wall, Exposure Twelve, Berlin, Germany HauntingMonumentality III, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia Fatal Jump from a Stool, Trafó Gallery, Budapest, Hungary Say It. HU>>, Knoll Gallery, Vienna, Austria 2013 Sculptures, Camera Austria, Graz, Austria Foam Talents 2013, Rosphoto, Saint Petersburg, Russia Unseen Photo Fair, Robert Morat Galerie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands FOAM Talents, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Leopold Bloom Art Award, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary Still – Photography at the Museum, MODEM, Debrecen, Hungary Books &Foam, FOAM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Grey Zone, Krokus Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia Trapéz 1, Trapéz Gallery, Budapest, Hungary Festival International de Mode & de Photographie, Hyères, France 2012 World Models, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary Jedentag, Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg, Germany 2011 4th Fotobook Festival, Dummy Award, Kassel, Germany Speaks for Itself, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary 2010 Private Landscape, Kunstverein, Düsseldorf, Germany Relations – Who? Whom? With what? City Gallery, Székesfehérvár, Hungary Best Before End, Inda Gallery, Budapest, Hungary Lab East, ewz.selection, Zürich, Switzerland Art Fanatics, Kozma-kArton Collection, Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary 2009 Renaissance Photography Prize, The Music Room, London, UK Regardez-moi – I’m back ! Gallery Immanence, Paris, France Fotofestiwal, 8th International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland 2008 Woman Drawn with Light, G13 Art Gallery, Budapest, Hungary 2007 Gallery for Wintertime, Zak Gallery, Berlin, Germany First Photography Biennal, Dunaújváros, Hungary 2006 International Photo Month, Krakow, Poland MONOGRAPHS 2016 The Epic Love Story of a Warrior, Self Publish Be Happy, London, UK 2014 Maquette of a Monument Symbolizing the Liberation, self-published 2012 One and a half meter, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany Handbook to the Stars, Stokovec, Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia STUDIES 2006—2009 Doctoral School of MOME, Budapest, Hungary 2005—2006 Masters in New Media, ENSCI/Les Ateliers, Paris, France 2005 Graduated in photography at MOME, Budapest, Hungary 2000—2005 MFA in photography at MOME, Budapest, Hungary 2004 Photography, ESAG, École Penninghen, Paris, France RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS 2015 Selected artist of Unseen Photo Fair, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Finalist of Leopold Bloom Art Award, Budapest, Hungary 2014 Artist-in-Residence, St a nica Contemporary, Banská Štiavnicá, Slovakia AiR, Schloss Laudon by KulturKontakt Austria, BMUKK, Vienna, Austria Shortlisted for Paul Huf Award, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Finalist at Unseen Dummy Award, Unseen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2013 Foam Talent, Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Shortlisted at Plat(t)form at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland ‘One and a half meter’ nominated for German Photo Book Award 2011 Artist-in-Residence, St a nica Contemporary, Banská Štiavnicá, Slovakia Shortlisted for Dummy Award at 4th FotoBook Festival Kassel, Germany 2009 Shortlisted in Sony World Photography Awards First prize at Renaissance Photography Prize, London, UK Grand Prix finalist, 8th International Festival of Photography, Lodz, Poland 2008 Artist-in-Residence, Sweedish School of Art, Nykarleby, Finland 2006 Hungarian Gov’s Scholarship for DLA Studies in Photography, MOME, Budapest, Hungary 2005 French Gov’s Scholarship for Masters in New Media, ENSCI/Les Ateliers, Paris, France

Forward. Back. Stop. Remix. Focus. Change of perspective. Repeat. Understand. Peter Puklus constantly explores our visual cosmos—he charts and questions the outer galaxy and his inner universe. He playfully moves between the dimensions, in order to fathom the hidden essence and effect of the world more profoundly. He often begins with seemingly insignificant objects and everyday situations, which transcend their proper function through the process of visualization, hence taking on a new meaning. Peter Puklus constantly re-arranges objects, placing them in relationship to one another and adding his own associations. His photographic series are studies, sketchbooks and journeys of realization all at once, which explode formal boundaries and radically expand the photographic space. They follow their very own rhythm and pattern—free of any convention, chronology or logical sequence. Open end.