Business Card as Film Negative

London, UK, 2007
One had to hold this business card against the light to read the contact information as if it was a film negative. Once handed out, folks instantly started to zoom in and out composing a picture through the unexposed middle section of the translucent foil.
I always got a great response to this creative card. It’s a shame i still have so many of it. Soon after i had them made, i decided to leave London and embark on a journey that took me 8 years of travelling, not exactly needing a business card in anarcho-primitivist, permaculturist, activist, and let´s admit it, hippie circles.
Glass Ceiling
New Series / Work in progress: I´m currently looking for participants, feel free to get in touch.

A glass ceiling is a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic (typically applied to women) from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy. – Wikipedia
An unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities. – Oxford Languages

The term „glass ceiling“ refers to the sometimes-invisible barrier to success that many women come up against in their careers. – BBC

Full Frame No Cut – Haha
Radio City Music Hall, New York, 2000

This A4 enlargement was to see how to dodge and burn a final print of a 35mm film negative.
It has my lab instructions on it: where to make it darker, to watch out for the middle to have an even gradient, but also to have it cut! I´m surprised because I remember myself taking pride in not cropping at all, respecting the moment to compose the shot.
It seems I cheated indeed!
The actual final print is in a private collection.
(Now thinking back, I´m pretty sure it got a new fake black edge.. One had to expose the paper using an enlarger, then remove the negative, mask the undeveloped image so that the desired new edges remained uncovered, and then give some extra white light to have the emulsion turn black, hence creating a new frame.. as if it was the unexposed shine through outer side of the full frame negative..)
Der kleine Prinz der Gentrifizierung
Apr 2016, Budapest, Hungary
To the Memory of Attila Ónodi (2003-2020)
Attila was a gifted young singer, he lived in the 8. district of Budapest, a rapidly changing, once ghetto-like part of the city. He made it to talent shows of a major network and had regular appearances at events across town.
We knew each other from a nearby cult pub and community center called Golya, seen in the background in some of these images. I used to take pro bono photos for him as he came from a financially stricken family and was badly in need of portraits ahead of a major TV show.
Attila welcomed the changes in his neighborhood thinking that his left-behind community would be able to stay there. He admired the new glass buildings, he envisioned cafes where he would have his pictures exhibited as a well-known singer.
He climbed up to this little island with a single tree, that once stood in the backyard of buildings 100 meters to his home. He posed there and suddenly started throwing stones towards his very own block of flats.
He hoped to ride the wave of fame of the TV publicity, though dropping out of the show at an early stage. The rumors were that his social media following was not presentable enough.
The next time he entered national attention was his tragic car accident: he drove without a license double the speed limit through red lights onto a lamp post.
CVat41

Preparing your CV @41:
Lesson 1: Photoshop is not a freaking Vector / PDF Editor. Period.
Question 1: How to bridge a huge gap you spent as a Squatter / Activist / Hippie / Traveller / Eco Freak?
My First Tutor and My First Print
Federico Savini, Pratt Institute, New York, 2000

This is probably the first portrait photograph i made in all its phases of analog production. Federico Savini, our tutor at Pratt Institute in New York kicked off the Portrait Class by setting a continuous light and called us to take some pictures of him. I loved his classes: this hands-on approach. Once we developed the rolls and enlarged our own prints, I was pumped that he singled me out for this shot. He liked the stance of stepping back just a bit to include a wider story.
Self Portrait at a Yoga Aktuell Shoot

This is a quick snapshot kind of self-portrait at a Yoga Aktuell photoshoot back in September 2019.
Chiemsee, Germany
RadlKult Making-of
Juni 2017, München, Germany


photo credit: Kai Neunert
Self Portrait

Sept. 2005, Budapest, Hungary
Yes, that was real grass covering the top floor of Tüzraktar, a 10´000 square meter atelier complex where I had my own studio.
This Job Changed my Career
It was an assignment the very day I got fired. I was told by the newly appointed picture editor that he had nothing against me but wanted to bring his team.
I was a freelancer at the time, but Magyar Hirlap, a political daily in Budapest gave me daily assignments, so it was indeed my workplace.
I was just digesting the shock at the publisher´s office as a job came to the photo desk. No-one could take it for some reason, so I was asked by the very editor to do it for that last time.
It was about the once large scale industrial site on the island of Csepel in Budapest. Long vanished socialist industry, once flagship carmaking halls, uncertain future.
I could very much sympathise with that handful of workers I met there. I chose to alter the white balance of my camera to make these warm tones, creating a sepia look, supporting feelings of nostalgy and melancholy.
And that was a hit. At the time in 2004 no-one, I knew worked with raw images. We shot jpg. Meaning that one could not tweak the colour balance that easy afterwards in post-production. I made that on the spot as if I still used film. Dialling up meant, that I could also achieve a very cold look, blue lights pouring through those large windows. It was a great contrast to the sepia past, portraying the harsh realities awaiting.
Delivering this little essay earned me the front page and a seat at the photo desk!
Though later I was told that the previous editor, Tamás Szigeti came to my rescue and spoke of me highly behind the scenes. I´m still grateful for his inspiration and guidance.
(the resolution and small size of these images reflect on the internet of the mid-2000s, as they were featured on my website at the time)
2004, Csepel, Budapest, Hungary
Non-motorist Perspectives
This photo project was commissioned by the late writer, editor and photo historian Mihály Gera. One day he just called up and invited me to his private library. It was a great honour to work with him.
He came up with the idea to try and capture Budapest with the theme of traffic in the city.
I was at the time already a passionate cyclist and my critique about urban planning became more and more obvious as I was taking pictures for this upcoming book. And exactly that seemed to create a problem. What I did not know from the start that this book was meant to be published for the City Hall of Budapest so that they could use it in their protocol as a present to mayoral visits.
But there were suddenly bigger obstacles, too. I left Budapest to pursue further studies in London and my flat got nicked back in 2007: there it went all my equipment and my archive as well!
I was though fortunate enough to have had a colourful pillowcase, and a good friend who´d recognise it on the sidewalk close to Brick Lane. Apparently, burglars like to stuff their plunder in the bedding, in order to grab as much as they can. Once out of the property, they can sort out the items they really need.
This is how I recovered at least these preview pictures!
2006, Budapest, Hungary
Teamlove

Foto: Daniella Hehmann
This is how one looks if they are cold on the set and the only one having some extra clothes is the stylist from Berlin!
Starnberger See,
Bayern, Germany
August 2018