The Capa Grand Prize Hungary is annually awarded to a photographer who works in any branch of photography, has been established professionally, and demonstrates a proven track record of outstanding talent. The Capa Center established the prize to emphasize its commitment to the creation of new artworks that enrich our society. The fellowships and the prize aim at furthering the development of the artists, and encouraging their future experimentation.
Balázs Turós was the fellowship-winner of the Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2021.
Balázs Turós: The Nature of Things
As a child, it was hard for me to imagine what it is like for someone who isn’t afraid of the dark. Will death seem less scary when we grow old? At a certain point, we’ll have to confront the idea that life is finite. For a child, time could seem infinite –the older we get, the faster time seems to pass. How can the transient nature of our personality be accepted in an individualistic society? Three years ago I set out to find an answer to this question in my photo series, which first bore the title “One step closer”. However, in the meantime, my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia and ever so slowly the original project has turned into a collaborative effort. Her disease carries within the starting point of my own fears. If our personality completely disappears in the moment of our death, then we can think of dementia as that frozen moment in which, day after day, we slowly drift away from ourselves. While I’m watching my grandmother change both mentally and physically, I’m aiming to embrace acceptance; striving to experience the existing order in the world, in which the transience of life also plays a part.
This collaboration had a great impact on my grandmother during which our relationship has also evolved. The reason I started to record videos was to show this personal aspect of the project. Although I don’t regard these videos part of the series, in my opinion they are important to be shared.
In an earlier stage of the work, the artist was a recipient of the József Pécsi Photography Scholarship of the Ministry of Human Capacities.
Selection from the photos of the series Balázs Turós: The Nature of Things
The Winner of Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2021: Éva Szombat.
Róbert László Bácsi was the fellowship-winner of the Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2021.
The members of the Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2021 jury:
• Claudia Küssel independent curator, art historian
• Kateryna Radchenko curator, photographer, photography researcher, founding director of Odesa Photo Days festival (Ukraine)
• Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger chief curator of The Finnish Museum of Photography, professor (Finland)
• Karin Rehn-Kaufmann art director and chief representative of Leica Galleries International, organiser of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Austria)
• Szatmári Gergely DLA, associate professor at MATE Rippl-Rónai Art Institute, head of the MA program, president of the jury
The Capa Grand Prize Hungary 2021 exhibition is free to visit until November 14, 2021 at Capa Center.