My Budapest Photo Project: A glimpse of a different side of the city

By Sarah

 

Tibor László has been forced to wander the streets of Budapest since the millennium and his perspective of the city, along with those of about 100 other homeless Budapestians, was on display at Budapest Pont and is now at the Central European University. It started on August 30 and went on at the original venue until September 18, but on September it moved to the Centre of Arts and Culture of the Central European University where you can see it until October 2. The exhibition (English-speaking friendly) can be still be seen at the CEU Exhibition Hall, at Nador Utca 9. Entrance is free.
At the opening ceremony a speech was made by Gabriella Csoszó, a photographer herself, teacher and activist. It was possible to meet some of the photographers, and several informal translators, among them the members of the Budapest Bike Maffia (the Hungarian non-profit organization behind the project) were here to ease the communication between Hungarian and English speakers.
This retrospective, named My Budapest Photo Project, is an initiative launched by the Budapest Bike Maffia (BBM), in collaboration with the Cafe Art, a London based community, whose mission, is, according to their own words, “to connect people affected by homelessness with the wider community through their art”. Although it was not a first (the original initiative organized by the Cafe Art took place in London in 2015), it is still unique in Hungary.
The project started at the beginning of the summer, after the members of the BBM have distributed a hundred disposable cameras in several shelters across the city. A rather appreciated action, since there has been a response. More than 2,000 photos were taken, and about 60 were selected by a jury and put on display at the venue on Kiráy Pál utca 18. During the whole time, the visitors were asked to vote for their favorite picture, to gather the 13 photos together that would make it to a calendar, which is going to be sold with the proceeds going to those in need.
A closing ceremony was held on the afternoon of September 18, where the winners, picked by the voters, and almost all present on that day (among them Tibor László) were given a prize of Ft 20,000 each, and the chance to see their work displayed in other venues in the city, and later on, in the other Hungarian cities where the BBM is present. So if you are interested, do not miss the chance to take a look at some remarkable slices of a life you never got to taste.

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