Photographer Krisztian Kiszely was born in Debrecen, Hungary, he graduated from the University of Art and Design, Budapest. He is a Graphic Artist, Designer, Teacher, Applied Photographer, and Creative Director. He simply fell in photography and he wants to express life through photography.
Thanks, Krisztian for accepting our invite. Please read on.
Can you please introduce yourself?
I was born in Debrecen, Hungary in 1973. I graduated from the Benedictine Secondary School of Pannonhalma in 1991, after that for two years I was working as an outworking press photographer in Székesfehérvár (Hungary). In parallel, here I graduated from the Photography Training College. In 1993 I was admitted to the Department of Photography of MOME (University of Art and Design, Budapest), where I graduated as a visual communication design artist and photo artist in 1998. In the following years, I worked as a 3D animator, graphic artist, designer, applied photographer, teacher, and creative director for various companies.
When did you start shooting and how did this love for photography happen?
Thanks to my father – who was an art teacher, musician, and skillful photographer – in early childhood I was surrounded by drawing, paintings, black and white photos, a lot of vinyl LP records, and musical instruments. In this inspiring atmosphere, he often let me “touch” his camera and get acquainted with it. Later in secondary school – between 1987 and 1991 – there was a photography club with a lab and I had the opportunity to go through all the technical procedures of analogue photography. When I had to decide going to grad school, it was no question what to learn because simply I fell in love with photography, the way where I can express myself.
Few words about this project Analogue black and white photographs?
During the University we had a lot of projects covering a wide spectrum of photography and I chose documentary. I like traveling, so I could combine it with the creation. I’ve always been drawn to go places where the scenery is untouched by modern capitalism, where the environment, the settlements, the land – and the local people as well – preserved something from the near and far past. This project was started in 1995 and I am still working on it, but year after year I have less and less chance to catch those marvelous, mellow, and melancholic moments and find these sceneries in the countryside of Hungary, Romania, and other Eastern European or Near East Asian countries.
What do you hope people take away from your work?
Poems, music, novels, movies, senses, voices, and words.
What are your 5 photography tips for any beginners who want to pursue photography?
Go – see – think – feel – catch.
Your favorite location which you always want to visit?
Every place east of Hungary.
What does it take to produce a good picture for you?
If the time lets me stop itself. If it lets, it is a big grace.
What was the proudest moment in your photography career so far?
The moment when I realized how to deal with it.
Your favorite photographers?
Josef Koudelka, Sebastião Salgado, Anthony Suau, Don McCullin, Imre Benkő, Vivian Maier and a lot more.
What’s your personal motto?
It is not a motto, rather a philosophy behind my works: “If possible, I travel around, observing, contemplating and looking at things, simply wandering about, as I am my own client, letting enough time for a locale to impress itself upon me, to speak to people so I get to know their lives, and should I be fortunate enough, start to get it right in a way that a picture materializes, from me and from them.”
Who are your real-life heroes, your inspirations?
Everyday people who are searching for the meaning of life and share their experiences with others. Inspirations are nature, music, books, friends, and my family.
Apart from photography tell me about your hobbies and interests?
Playing and listening to music, astronomy, nature, ancient history, craftsmanship, and of course traveling.
Any final thoughts and words of advice for your fans and our readers?
Photography is a chance to slice and freeze the time. The question is where and when do we slice it, as playing on a piano keyboard. If we hit the keys right in place and time, the result is beautiful music. That is why a song can generate pictures in our mind and a photo can speak to anyone. Everything is connected.
You can find Krisztian Kiszely on the Web:
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Krisztian Kiszely. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
