Telex photographer wins Grand Prize at Hungarian Press Photography Awards

The winners of the 41st Hungarian Press Photography Awards were announced months before the exhibition's opening and Telex photographers won big, especially with their photo reports on the conflict in Ukraine. The good series continued at the opening ceremony, with our colleague István Huszti also winning the MÚOSZ (Association of Hungarian Journalists) Grand Prize with his series entitled Fragments, which tells the story of the hardships of people living in war-torn areas.

The André Kertész Grand Prize for the best human-centred documentary photography was awarded to Bálint Szajki for his series of images entitled „In sickness and in health”, which tells the story of an elderly couple married for 63 years. The 24.hu photographer had previously won the Everyday Life (series) category, and was also awarded the Zoltán Szalay Prize for the best photojournalist under 30 years of age.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Photojournalism was presented to György Németh. It was the second time that the achievements and life's work of photojournalists working in the press were awarded with a silver and gold-plated camera badge, the Golden Camera Award. This year its receipients were Sándor Benkő, Árpád Kiss-Kuntler and Lajos Soós. In parallel to the press photography competition, the Photojournalist Section of MÚOSZ also announced the tenth István Molnár Award for the best use of images, which was won by Renáta Icsu.

As we wrote earlier, our colleague István Huszti won the Márton Munkácsi Award for the best collection, and he also won first place in the news photo category, with his material being the only one awarded in the photo reportage category. Telex's János Bődey came in third in the Art (series) category for his still life photos of preparations for war, while Noémi Napsugár Melegh won second place in the Social Portrayal (series) category for her work on photos of a homeless couple living on the periphery of a Roma community.

Below we present the winning series with an introduction and captions by the author.

Fragments

It's been more than a year since Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on in some form for eight years, but since 24 February 2022, our eastern neighbour has seen the most intense fighting Europe has experienced since the Second World War. Fourteen million people have been displaced, over 17 000 civilians have been injured in the war, more than seven thousand of whom were killed by Russian mines and rockets.

Those living in occupied or war-torn territory are in constant danger of losing their lives: if not facing fear from rocket attacks or Russian soldiers, then they are struggling because of water, electricity and food shortages. Not to mention the psychological trauma that is likely to define the lives and daily lives of generations to come. These physical and invisible fragments of glass are then inflicting lasting damage on every single member of Ukrainian society.

The 41st Hungarian Press Photography Exhibition, opened by Kossuth award-winning graphic artist István Orosz and arranged by András Bánkuti, will be on view at the Capa Centre in Budapest from 13 April to 28 May. The exhibition is part of the Budapest Photo Festival.

Laureates of the 41st Hungarian Press Photography Competition

GRAND PRIZES

MÚOSZ GRAND PRIZE
István Huszti (Telex): Fragments

André Kertész-grand prize
Bálint Szajki (24.hu): In sickness and in health

Award categories

News, events
1st prize: István Huszti (Telex): Apocalypse
2nd prize: Szabolcs Vörös (Válasz Online): God's judgement
3rd prize: Márton Merész (énbudapestem.hu)

Photo reportage
1st prize: István Huszti (Telex): Fragments
2nd prize: István Huszti (Telex): Hard times
3rd prize: István Huszti (Telex): Total resistance

Everyday Life (individual)
1st prize: Cini Fodor (freelancer): Evening bath
2nd prize: Szöllősi Mátyás Szöllősi (freelancer): Anyóka
3rd prize: István M. Kerekes (freelancer): The jump

Everyday Life (series)
1st prize: Bálint Szajki (24.hu): In sickness and in health
2nd prize: Anna Szilágyi (European Pressphoto Agency): I am boiling up
3rd prize: István András Juhász (freelancer): The Balaton is to us…

Portait (individual)
1st prize: Árpád Kurucz (Magyar Nemzet): István Orosz, graphic artist
2nd prize: András D. Hajdú (freelancer): Hell's garden
3rd prize: Csilla Cseke (freelancer): Our worthy greats – Cinematographer Sándor Kardos Sándor

Portrait (series)
1st prize: Mátyás Szöllősi (freelancer): In the shadow
2nd prize: Péter Komka (freelancer): Lili
3rd prize: Zalán Ilyés (freelancer): This house is not for sale, because it's uninhabitable

Art (individual)
1st prize: Árpád Kurucz (Magyar Nemzet): AWS (a Hungarian band)
2nd prize: Balázs Ladóczki (freelancer): Ecstasy
3rd prize: Vera Éder (freelancer): The village on the hill

Art (series)
1st prize: Márton Béres (Népszava): Musical refuge
2nd prize: Márton Merész (énbudapestem.hu): Austerlitz
3rd prize: János Bődey (Telex): You can't escape war, even if your home is not bombed to pieces

Sport (individual)
1st prize: Gábor Erdélyi (freelancer): Flying in a sandstorm
2nd prize: Anna Szilágyi (European Pressphoto Agency): Sparkles
3rd prize: Bernadett Szabó (Reuters): Oops

Sport (series)
1st prize: Zoltán Vanik (Hungarian Cycling Association): Once upon a time, when Giro d' Italia came to Hungary
2nd prize: Tibor Illyés (MTI/MTVA): The weaker sex
3rd prize: Bea Kovács (freelancer): Skiing's in their blood

Nature and science (individual)
1st prize: Ádám Horváth (freelancer): The badger's world
2nd prize: Ferenc Lőrinc Lőrincz (freelancer): The lionfish while hunting I.
3rd prize: Irma Szabó (freelancer): The life of storks

Nature and science (series)
1st prize: Zsolt Balázs (freelancer): The silent sky above rumbling fields – The drought of the summer of 2022 in Hungary
2nd prize: Márton Mónus (freelancer): I want to breed horses, not camels
3rd prize: Márton Mohos (24.hu): Rusty river

Social portrayal, documentarist photography (individual)
1st prize: András Hajdú D. (freelancer): The boy from Kherson
2nd prize: Tibor Zagyi (Népszava): Frosty nights
3rd prize: András Hajdú D. (freelancer): Refugees

Social portrayal, documentarist photography (series)
1st prize: Márton Mónus (freelancer): The stifling air of the Sajó valley
2nd prize: Noémi Napsugár Melegh (Telex.hu): Gábor and Kálmán (2016–2022)
3rd prize: Bea Kovács (freelancer): The harder path to parenthood

Special Prizes:

Escher Károly-Award for the best photo taken in Hungary:
Márton Merész (énbudapestem.hu): On the „path of shame”

Munkácsy Márton-Award for the best collection:
István Huszti (Telex)

Szalay Zoltán-Award – for the best photojournalist under 30:
Bálint Szajki (24.hu)

The best performing photojournalist working in the counties:
Péter Komka (external collaborator of MTI/MTVA)

UNHCR Award for the best individual photo of Ukrainian refugees:
András Hajdú D. (freelancer)

UNHCR Award for the best photo series of Ukrainian refugees:
Márton Béres (Népszava): Musical refuge

SPAR Hungary Award for the idea of sustainability:
Péter Varga (freelancer): Modern-day pirates

Móricz-Sabján Simon-Award for the best long-term work, courtesy of Pictorial Collective:

Márton Mónus (freelancer): The stifling air of the Sajó valley

Carl Zeiss Vision-Award for a unique perspective:
Anna Szilágyi (European Pressphoto Agency): Sparkles

Photojournalist's Lifetime Achievement Award:
György Németh

Golden Camera Award:
Sándor Benkő
Árpád Kiss-Kuntler
Lajos Soós

Molnár István-Award:
Renáta Icsu (Magyar Hírlap Online)

Special commendations:
Márton Kállai (Szabad Föld): Visnyeszéplak
Péter Zsolnai (Blikk): Pay our teachers!