My
name is Istvan Budai, and I am a freelance photographer
living in Szombathely, Hungary. I have been taking
pictures since I was a child, and had my own color
laboratory in Hungary. When I was 17, my pictures
were selected for an exhibition in the Budapest House
of Young Artists. I have participated in several courses
on Creative Photography, while also taking care of
my business interests in Hungary and elsewhere. The
main influences on my work are Andre Kertesz, Brassai,
Ansel Adams and Jung Zseni. My lens has captured,
among others, Gina Lollobrigida and Roger Moore. It's
a fantastic feeling when, through the lens of your
camera, you can see details of this wonderful world
which otherwise would just pass you by. Thanks to
my photography, I have often been able to make friends
with people who would otherwise be regarded as reserved
to make contact with. It always give me pleasure to
know that with the help of modern technology I can
share the joys of my travels with others. In 2000
I was asked to take photographs of the annual Savaria
Pageant, which covers the history of the city from
Roman times to the present day. The City Council commissioned
an official calendar of my pictures, and this was
sent all over the world. As a direct result of this,
German and Hungarian publishers have regularly commissioned
photographs for newspapers and monthly magazines,
particularly of motor racing and yachting (I am a
former Hungarian yachting champion). I take the official
photographs of the Hungarian Prime Minister on his
visits to Western Hungary. My largest photograph to
date decorated five storey of a wall of a block of
flats: it was an election poster in May 2002. In 2001
I spent nearly three months traveling around Australia:
the photographs I took formed the basis of an exhibition,
“Wonderful Australia”, shown in Szombathely, Budapest
and other cities in Hungary, and in Las Vegas. Pictures
from this exhibition have also been accepted for National
Geographic. What interests me particularly is photographing
people in their own landscape, capturing the decisive
moment of their expressions. In the short to medium
term, I am intending to travel in the USA, Alaska,
Africa and India, photographing people, cities and
landscapes. I am a member of the International Federation
of Journalists.
