Attila cannot wait to have his neighbourhood redeveloped. He is standing on an island, the very last remaining few square meters of a whole block of the city that sank rapidly.
This is the empoverished 8. district of Budapest which provided the backdrop to his entire childhood.
From the mid-2000s onward a major government project is taking place cutting through this 19th-century area of town: the 800 meters long Corvin Setany is a new promenade bordered by recently developed large scale properties. The hereby unleashed market forces result in fast track gentrification for the whole district.
Attila sang from his young years on, and his family saw his career as a way to break out of poverty. They welcomed the arrival of shopping malls, glass offices, cafes and fancy apartment buildings as they live in a parallel street yet untouched.
At the time these photos were taken, Attila was in a high profile national TV show as a young talent, only to loose in the first live round to a less experienced but affluent child.