243 photographers submitted a total of 7,164 pictures to this year's photo contest. Then a jury of international experts selected winners in each category. The jury chairman was Adrian Evans, the director of the photo agency Panos Pictures.
The exhibition presents more photos than ever before: 413 in total. The increased number of exhibited works has been made possible by a new exhibiting technique. Instead of separate, framed photographs, the pictures are placed on long – in some places 17 meters long – printed “tapes.” This special technique evokes the design and atmosphere of printed magazines.
The Grand Prize of MÚOSZ was won by Balázs Béli, the associate of Barikád this year, with his photo series titled Úton Európában (“On the Road in Europe” in English). On his photographs, taken in the country’s border areas, we can see the faces, personal belongings and everyday trials of migrants heading toward Western Europe. One of the pictures depicts a derelict dictionary booklet, from which a refugee is studying English words on the way to a new life.
The photo series by Attila Balázs (MTVA/MTI) titled Egy hajléktalan karácsonya (“A Homeless Person's Christmas”) is a similarly high-quality material, for which he was awarded the André Kertész Grand Prize. On his pictures, we can follow a day in the life of homeless man József Barnabás Antal. At Christmas, he puts on the best clothes he has received from charity, goes to mass, then returns “home.” The man from Nyíregyháza lost the roof over his head one and a half years ago.
There are fewer politics-related pictures than usual in this year's exhibition, which is definitely lucky. There were a number of funny works in the humour category, which is something we could all take from. Among the sports photos, the series by Balázs Mohai, titled Highline a szellemvárosban (“Highline in the Ghost Town”) won the first prize. The series by Gábor Erdélyi, titled Vizes válogatott (“Wet Team”) turned out to be rather witty in its depiction of the Hungarian water polo team.
The photo series by Bence Máté stood out from this year’s nature photos, showing great egret birds in the Kiskunság region. Many works were related to, or touched on, the crisis in the Ukrainian while other recurring issues include migration, poverty and the portrayal of rural life.
All in all, we can see sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking images at this high-quality exhibition at the Capa Center on Nagymező Street. The exhibition will be on until 17 May so don't miss out!
For more photos and information, visit the official website.
