Adrian Evans köszöntő beszéde

I’m very honoured to be asked to open the 33 Hungarian Press Photo exhibition in the fantastic Robert Capa Center. It is entirely fitting that we are in a venue dedicated to and named after one of the most famous photojournalists of all time and of course most importantly a Hungarian.

I think that nowadays Press photographers and photojournalists often don’t get the recognition they deserve. They face a real challenge how to remain relevant when the news changes minute by minute and media agendas change almost as quickly. A photographer’s work can be quickly forgotten as we move onto the next day’s news – maybe it was always the case – there is a saying in Britain today’s newspapers are tomorrows fish and chip paper. This exhibition and exhibitions like it give us the opportunity to view the photographs that document the year and reflect on the events of the last 12 months.

We liven in and age when more photographs are being produced than ever before – the numbers are staggering. An average newspaper picture editor will see more than 30,000 pictures a day. I came across an incredible statistic the other day which illustrates just how many photos are bing taken – every two minutes we take as many photographs as were taken in the whole of the 19th century. In the face of figures like that it is a testament to press photographers that they are able to take photographs to stand out from the crowd, that continue to enlighten, educate and inform us.
Ultimately these awards endorse and recognize the work of Hungarian press photographers. Their photographs could grace any photo competition. I notice that at least two of the photographers featured here won awards in this year’s POYI (Pictures of the Year International) one of the most prestigious global photography competitions.

I can’t finish without mentioning the other members of the jury:
Eric Baradat from AFP in Paris, Marian Pauer from Slovenia, Kristian Bocsi and Zsolt Revisczky both Hungarian. A wonderful group of fellow professionals and it was a pleasure to spend a weekend together judging the competition earlier this year. Looking around tonight I think we did a pretty good job although I will leave you to decide. Every jury is different in their own way and of course the choices they make reflect those differences and that is reflected in the images you see in this exhibition.

Particularly important was the presence of  Zlot and Kristiain – they were our Hungarian guides. For those of us who aren’t from here the judging process is a journey of discovery learning about a country, it’s history, its people, its politics and the issues that are important to it. So I would like to extend a thank you to them and to Tamas Szigeti.

And of course an especially big thank you to the Robert Capa Center. I would like to finish with the thought that if the great man were still with us now how proud he would be to see that his country continues to produce great photographers.