02 09 2021 / Thursday / 18.00
A Budapest Train Station 2012–2021
exhibition of György Stalter
opens: writer Gábor Németh
finissage: 20 09 2021
I have been photographing the subculture of the train station for nearly a decade. The building itself, its corners inhabited by homeless persons, the graffities, working without leaving the ground of the station. I grew up in the neighborhood, I saw it in its golden age, in its dilapidation, its passing. This characteristic element of Budapest will disappear just as the scenes of my earlier book, Város a városban 2010 (City within City).
During my work, I sought individuals, worth of a portrait, the photographically interesting ones, whom I can find the perturbation in. Similarly to my earlier works – Budapest Józsefváros 2010, Berlin Neukölln 2011 – I worked in a strictly framed domain, I returned as an old acquaintance. The location is narrower this time, hence more concentrated, it is a more complex photographical challenge: getting in touch with numerous people in transit, the naturality of the encounters, the time given to waiting, due to the unquotable uniqueness of the eventuality. The train station diffuses the atmosphere of negligence and abandonment. I can use the waiting room as a studio, where I invite the waiting travelers and I display their characters with the help of lighting technics. Time does not change only the objectual environment, but the people within it either: they dress differently, behave distinctively, they express themselves in other ways and manners in front of the camera. These photographs were taken with the consent of the subjects, they knew that a photo is made, like back then at the studio of the photographer. The difference is that here I choose whom I want to photograph. I have continuously worked on the project with my work method grounded on the acquired experiences, I followed the changes, documented the life of the train station. /György Stalter/
Supported by the National Cultural Fund