New York – The City That Changed My Life!

This story continues the blog post linked here.

For anyone starting with this chapter, here is the short version.

On 31 December 2013, I decided that I wanted to become a highly successful photographer.

In a way I still find difficult to believe, within half a year of that decision I had already created my first two photography exhibitions.

Then I set myself a much more ambitious goal:

Before the end of 2014, I wanted to create a third exhibition — in New York, the “capital of the world”.

I had never been to the United States or New York before.

So the plan sounded rather reckless, and almost everybody who knew me simply smiled at the idea and did not take it very seriously. :)

After the second exhibition, I felt there was still more in me.

Only a few months earlier, creating those first two exhibitions had already seemed like an enormous challenge.

It was difficult to change the image people had of me.

Before all of this, I had spent almost eight years as a professional soldier.

Later I ran a company working in marketing and communication.

My photographic path had actually begun during my time in the military.

I owe a great deal to my colleague Pál Szabó and to photographer Micha Müller.

Without them, I might never have taken photography seriously enough to turn it into a profession.

When I finally dared to say my New York plan out loud rather than only think it, the people who considered me crazy or unrealistic became some of my strongest motivation.

So thank you to them too. :)

I knew one of the most important questions would be the venue.

The concept itself already existed.

The theme of my first exhibition had worked very well, and it could be developed naturally for New York.

I wanted to photograph thirty Hungarian women over the age of thirty at their favourite locations around New York.

That way, I could achieve two things at once:

Get to know the city.

And photograph in a wide variety of environments.

Because the project was about Hungarians, it seemed obvious that the exhibition should be held at a Hungarian cultural centre.

I searched online and found the Hungarian House of New York.

I sent an email.

No reply came.

Meanwhile, I posted on Facebook asking whether I happened to know anybody living in New York.

Then I logged out.

That evening, I noticed a new message.

It was from a woman named Brigitta.

To this day, I do not even remember exactly how we had become Facebook contacts.

Back then I accepted practically every friend request, and probably ninety percent of my profile consisted of people I did not really know.

That was normal at the time.

We began talking.

I felt I could tell her about the exhibition without being laughed at.

A few days later, she wrote again.

She had thought it through and believed I absolutely should make the dream happen.

She could help in two ways:

I could stay with them in the Bronx.

And she would try to find contacts connected to the Hungarian House.

That offer gave me enormous hope.

If Brigi had not appeared, my New York chapter might never have developed the way it did.

I still owe her a huge thank-you.

And also to her roommates, Gábor and Gabi, for welcoming me into their home.

From that point onward, I believed even more strongly that the project could become real.

I advertised the exhibition to the target group on Facebook and began looking for participants.

A small group of almost forty people formed.

I explained that I desperately wanted to create the exhibition.

I still had no confirmed venue and no printing solution.

But I believed it would happen.

An extraordinary sense of cooperation began developing.

That gave me another burst of energy.

From then on, whenever my belief weakened slightly, I would somehow notice the words “New York” somewhere.

On a T-shirt.

A cap.

A bag.

Every time it happened, I felt the same thing:

Everything is fine.

Just be patient.

I worked as hard as I could to save enough money for six weeks in New York and for the expected exhibition costs.

Around the same period, I was invited to work as an external communications and marketing consultant on an international project.

Financially, that was a huge help.

At the same time, I was teaching web development to graduating students at my former secondary school as an external lecturer.

Meanwhile, Brigi connected me by email with the newly elected director of the Hungarian House of New York, Ildikó Nagy.

Ildikó responded positively to the idea.

She explained that she was currently preparing for the fiftieth anniversary of the Hungarian House, but once I arrived in New York, we could discuss the exhibition in detail.

The following day, I seemed to see “New York” everywhere I went.

I was on my way to the studio.

As I turned onto the street, I said to myself:

All right.

I understand the signs.

But if I see just one more, I will buy the plane ticket immediately.

I was only a few steps from the entrance.

The street was completely empty.

Then I glanced into the cross street.

A young man turned the corner wearing a white T-shirt with “New York 23” printed across it.

That was the day I decided to book the flight and apply for ESTA travel authorisation.

A few days earlier, Vodafone had announced a promotion for RED subscribers that made roaming in the United States significantly easier.

There was also a discount arrangement connected to British Airways tickets.

Everything seemed to line up.

Communication with home had been another major question for me.

So at that moment, this was what I knew:

I had somewhere to sleep.

I would have a local guide.

The exhibition might be possible at the Hungarian House.

I had around thirty models.

And I had a plane ticket. :)

Then the big day arrived.

I arranged travel insurance.

Collected all the necessary documents.

And began one of the greatest journeys of my life.

When I arrived in New York, I was extremely nervous about immigration.

Brigi was already waiting at the airport.

That was an enormous help because I was not completely lost.

From there, everything accelerated.

I had no alternative but to make the thing I had travelled for become real.

So I learned New York transportation very quickly and adapted to the city’s rhythm.

Together with Ildikó Nagy, director of the Hungarian House, we planned the exhibition carefully.

I also received huge help from Gábor Gyuricza — Daffy — who supported not only the printing of the photographs but the organisation of the entire exhibition.

It turned out to be an excellent idea to photograph at different times of day and at completely different locations.

Within roughly a month, I got to know the city extremely well.

I was also incredibly happy that my partner and my cousin could travel to New York for the opening.

My cousin, art historian Dávid Balogh, gave the exhibition its deeper message.

He created the curatorial concept that you can see explained in the video below.

The venue did not yet have a suitable display system for the works.

So during the final week, one of my models, Ketrin, had seven large display panels manufactured.

The photographs were mounted on them.

Afterwards, we donated the panels to the Hungarian House.

You can read more about how the shoots themselves happened through my interview on the Tinkmara blog.

The small amateur video below also gives you a look at the exhibition and the opening.

The photographs created for the exhibition can be viewed through the link.

In 2014, I created three different photography exhibitions.

Almost nobody truly believed in me apart from my partner.

That gave me enough strength and momentum to begin teaching what I had learned — and to keep learning even more.

From January 2015, my life changed again.

I began travelling regularly between New York and Budapest.

In the United States, I learned many innovative techniques and gained professional experience that I later used primarily in Hungary and still apply in my work today.

The following year, in 2015, I created another, more serious exhibition at Stefánia Palace in Budapest.

Hungarian television interviewed me about it.

That became another major milestone because it was the first time I was introduced on television specifically as a photographer.

You can watch that interview below.

The photographs from the exhibition can also be viewed through the link.

In the autumn of 2015, I was already able to work with a New York agency.

I created what may still be one of the strongest series of my life about the city and the New York TCS Marathon.

I also had the opportunity to learn from Scott Kelby, one of the world’s best-known photography educators.

That experience had a major influence on my path too.

In 2016, I managed to create two photography exhibitions.

They dealt with two very different themes.

One was an emotional series about fathers and their young children.

I was not yet a father myself, but it was valuable to enter that world and understand it a little better.

The other exhibition, held in New York, presented freedom fighters who had emigrated after 1956 as role models.

You can read more about that project in the linked blog post.

I will leave you with the following video.

It was also how I said goodbye to New York after the 1956 exhibition.

Part of the BANHALMI ecosystem

For the professional context and practical side of portrait photography, visit the BANHALMI professional website. Related art series, books and exhibitions are preserved in the BANHALMI ART archive.