Pictorial 10 – Selection from the first ten years of Pictorial Collective
Open to the public:
August 17, 2021 – September 19, 2021
Tuesday – Friday: 2pm – 7pm
Weekend: 11am – 7 pm
Closed on Monday and on public holidays.
Capa Center
Curator: Gabriella Csizek, Katalin Kopin
Exhibiting Artists: Róbert László Bácsi, Katalin,Darnay, DávidFerenczy, András D. Hajdú, Bálint Hirling, Dénes Mártonfai, Balázs Mohai, Simon Móricz-Sabján, Zsófia Pályi, Ákos Stiller, Bernadett Szabó, Ádám Urbán, László Végh
Vernissage: Monday, August 16, 2021, 6pm
Opening remarks Péter Korniss, photographer & Ferenc Rédei, winner of Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism, Hungary
This is a birthday exhibition with ten candles on an imaginary cake.
The Pictorial Collective has been running for eleven years now, with a sometimes changing but always cohesive community of members. The three founders, Róbert László Bácsi, Simon Móricz-Sabján and Bernadett Szabó, aimed to create a photographic community where members could work independently, yet inspire each other, generating a continuous dialogue not only about their own work, but also about the theoretical and practical issues of modern photojournalism.
The origin of their choice of name can be traced back to the Pictorial category of the American Picture of the Year photography competition. Here, there was no thematic restriction on the subject matter of the images submitted, and the primary focus was not on documentary or news value, but on capturing the world in a subjective and meaningful way in a photograph.
The professional group – represented in the exhibition by eight active and five former members – is made up of high-profile photojournalists and photographers in their 30s and 40s, winners of numerous international and Hungarian press awards and art grants. Although their professional background, education and professional experience are rather varied (Práter Street Vocational School, the Bálint György Journalist Academy of MÚOSZ, MOME photography course, Kaposvár University photography major, as well as individual professional experience in photography workshops), their completed works, photo essays and projects all demonstrate a reflective, humanistic image creation, a sensitive, and expressly personal perspective.
One of the pillars of their operation is the continuous discourse, and the meaningful analysis and evaluation of each other’s work. They specifically intend to carry out joint projects, and to participate together in tenders and exhibitions. Several portfolio reviews and photojournalist workshops are associated with them.
Using a new visual language, they create long-term autonomous series of images, photo essays, going beyond the photojournalistic approach, and the creation of daily news images.
Their research-based projects, their sensitivity to social issues, and their series that also formulate opinions on private and public events are published in numerous magazines and exhibition institutions around the world.
“We, members of Pictorial believe that photographers are witnesses and messengers. It’s important for us to show everyday situations and different problems with unique vision and perspective. Each of us tries to show the preferred topics based on our own feelings and impressions, among very different social and geographical surroundings,” they write on their website.
Gabriella Csizek and Katalin Kopin
curators
