Crows, near Debrecen, East Hungary

Tamad Dezso

Here, Anywhere

The map of Hungary is speckled with capsules of time. During the political transformation twenty years ago, as the country experienced change, some places were simply forgotten… Streets, blocks of flats, vacant sites and whole districts became little self-defined enclosures, in which today a certain out-dated, awkward, longed-to-be-forgotten Eastern European feeling still lingers. These places seem to be at one with other parts of the city, but their co-existence in time is only apparent; Each place fades in accordance with its own specific chronology, determined by its past. That what remains is then silently reconquered by nature, or enveloped by the lifestyles of the generations of tomorrow. Of the original inhabitants, who’ve never fully integrated with society, soon only traces will remain, until they, too, will inevitably disappear over the course of time.

I do not observe these mini-universes in the hope of recording them in their entirety, but I rather try to capture the essence of these worlds by elevating certain chosen details of this disappearing existence. The series, begun in 2009, examines the typically transitional period and symbolic locations of post-communist space which, due to disinterest or thoughtlessness, is slowly vanishing, and fading into images. But for the time being, they are still around. Here.

Here, anywhere.

 

Laszlo, a night watchman in his caravan in the poorest district of Budapest.
26 year-old Peter holds a mangalitsa piglet at a breeding farm in the suburban part of Miskolc, North East Hungary. He is one of the few men of his village with permanent employment.
Abandoned Factory Site, near Szekesfehervar, West Hungar
Dogs in the poorest district of Budapest.
A farmhouse on the North Eastern part of Hungary. This region is one of the poorest regions in Hungary and in the European Union.
A man sorts out bricks of a demolished building on the outskirts of Budapest. Like many of his fellow citizens in small villages he regularly goes to the capital to find some casual work.
Ruins of a concrete building on an abandoned military drill ground on the outskirts of Budapest.
A car wreck on a pole is advertising a scrapyard close to some blocks of flats on the periphery of Budapest. Twenty percent of the Hungarian population live in such buildings mainly on the outskirts of major cities.
A Roma ghetto on the periphery of Budapest. Nearly half of the Hungarian Roma community lives in conditions of segregation.
40 year-old Rozalia gets ready for the day in her flat in Budapest. She has been earning her living as an illegal prostitute for more than twenty years.
Locust Trees, North-East Hungary
Istvan, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Hungarian Army at an unveiling of a war memorial in Josvafo, North East Hungary.
Sunflowers, Balatonakarattya, West Hungary.
Bus Stop, Nort East Hungary
Deers, North Hungary
Tree and House, West Hungary.
Petya, a homeless anarchist and social activist in a forest near Budapest.
Johanna, a nun of the Order of Premontre walks to her convent through a forest outside of Zsambek, North Hungary.

 

Bio

Tamas Dezso is a documentary fine art photographer working on long-term projects focusing on the margins of society in Hungary, Romania and in other parts of Eastern Europe. His photographs have been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, TIME, GEO, Le Monde Magazine, Ojo de Pez, Polka Magazine and many others.

 

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Tamas Dezso

14 thoughts on “Tamas Dezso – Here, Anywhere”

  4. bob black

    in film, your brothers: Tarkovsky, Jancso, Angelopolus, Wadja, Kieslowski, Erice, Reygadas, Bela Tarr……

    in literature, your brothers: Kertesz, Nadas, Krasznahorkai, Esterhazy

    in pictures, your brothers: the sound of wind in the cavern of trees, the limbs of the filds, the seas in the emptied buildings and churches….

    when i arrived at the 2nd last picture, i literally felt a body blow, and exhilation, the shock and then, quietly, i said: ecce homo…..

    the essay: sublime

    itt vagyunk…..

  5. Gordon Lafleur

    Eye candy indeed.

    I love the very formal compositions, the minimalist colour. Beautiful beautiful stuff. It almost feels like these are illustrations from an old book of fairy tales.

    I’m just curious to know what Ringo Star was doing in Hungary.

  6. Pete Marovich

    There are some really nice images here but the statement is a bunch of artistic mumbo jumbo. Example: “but their co-existence in time is only apparent” It is not apparent. They ARE coexisting in time.

    I would venture to guess that these types of forgotten spaces occur in most any city or town. We have all seen them.

    I bet these would be more interesting if they where printed big and hanging in a gallery.

    OH…. And I told everyone he would be back… LOL. Tantrum is over I see.

  7. Herve

    I always liked “these types of forgotten spaces occuring in most any city or town and that we have all seen”. It makes it all the harder to pull an original essay with some authoring about it, so that our feeling is that of going beyond mere recognition of such spaces, but being led by Tamas for an esthetic experience, and a discovery of his newest intents.

    Well done, Tamas!

  10. eva

    Here, anywhere, that’s quite correct.. anywhere will look slightly different from one place to the next, the more farther we go from ‘here’ the more it will be different.. but key in all this is to capture this ‘here’ or anywhere..

    Nicely done, thank you, Tamas!

  11. Zisis Kardianos

    This is a delightfull essay for which I pay my respect to the photographer. Apart for some great photographs, the whole constructs a narrative that leaves pleanty of space to the viewers to add their own meaning. An essay worth depeloping further.

  13. mw

    I too am positively impressed by this work. At first I thought it was going to be just another all too familiar east European post-communist angst piece, especially when I saw the crows, and I thought “cue Imants,” but at #7 I thought the essay totally changed, or perhaps truly started, and from there I found it much more universal. It certainly didn’t differ much from what one could find in the American midwest. Of course you would have to find it and the prerequisite for that would be having the point of view and aesthetic sensibility to find it. That, on top of the great technical quality, is the strength of this work.

    On that note, I’m a bit surprised that no one has commented on the technical quality. After so much circular discussion on camera phones and two dollar apps, I found it kind of refreshing to see a deep vision well-realized with a much larger format capture. Would these same photos work, or work as well, had they been captured with a tiny sensor?

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