This week, we present two recordings from our 'Talks on everyday imaging – the analogue and digital realm of the vernacular’ event's Hungarian segment: an insightful lecture by photo critic Judit Gellér on the history of Hungarian vernacular photography and a video featuring Miklós Tamási, co-founder of the region's most significant photographic archive, Fortepan.
Judit Gellér – History of vernacular photography research in Hungary
In Hungary, efforts to scientifically analyse private photographs began in the early 1980s. This research not only expanded the possibilities of cultural and scientific mapping of everyday life but also represented a new dimension in the art scene. As the techniques of private photography, tools, methods, and habits changed, so did the places and approaches for collecting private photographs, as well as the institutions and scientific methods for classifying and researching these types of images. How did these institutions operate in the period before the regime change in 1989, and what differences have the following decades brought? What impact did the focus on private photography have on education, art institutions, and individual artists? In my presentation, I will introduce the institutions and collections that were established during and after the regime change, aimed at studying private photography, while also referencing some artworks inspired by it.
Judit Gellér has published art critiques and reviews in various Hungarian journals since 2000, curated exhibitions in Hungary and Europe since 2011. She received her PhD degree from the Film, Media, and Contemporary Culture program at ELTE University in 2022. Her research fields include private photo collections, artistic uses of archives, photobooks, and contemporary photography. She currently works as a contemporary curator at the MaDok program of the Museum of Ethnography and as an adjunct professor in the Photography Department of MOME.
Miklós Tamási — The Fortepan model: the operating model of a quitepopular digital vernacular photography archive
Miklós Tamási, founder of the archive, will tell us why Fortepan was started, and what thoughts motivated the decision to make the archive a collection of digitised, free-to-use photographs? We will also hear about what role the founder holds in the archive’s everyday routine, and if his vision has any effect on the visual material appearing on the website. What is the reason behind the archive’s popularity – and as the initiative is already so successful, what are their plans for the future? Can we count on the establishment of an international Fortepan model?
Miklós Tamási is the program manager of the OSA Archive in Budapest and founder of the Fortepan photo archive. Fortepan is the largest, constantly expanding, Hungarian-language, free online archive of photographs. It was named after the Fortepan photographic film manufactured in the former Forte Factory in the town of Vác. The photo collection does not exist physically, but has been accessible online since 20 August 2010. Miklós Tamási launched the photo collection with Ákos Szepessy to document what everyday life was like in Hungary from the end of the 19th century until the democratic political transition in 1990. Today, there are not many people in Hungary who have never stumbled upon content from the online archive as dozens of articles and photo galleries are illustrated with pictures from here each and every day.
The keynote speech of the event, given by Geoffrey Batchen, is available on this link.
Watch all three presentations of the segment 'Crash course on analogue everyday photography – vernacular photography outside the realm of the digital' here.
Event Concept: Róza Tekla Szilágyi, Endre Cserna
Video: Zsuzsi Simon
Music: Áron Lörinczi
Design: L2 Studio
The lecture took place on November 2, 2023, in Budapest, Hungary.
You can find the original event description of 'Talks on everyday imaging – the analogue and digital realm of the vernacular' here.
