Cover page
Introduction
I always thought I knew Hungary, as it is my homeland. However, I am still amazed by the abundant sights I witnessed while collecting the material for this volume.
My previous impressions and visual experiences gained new meaning as I searched for sites worthy of presenting in this panoramic technique, and then searched further for the right perspective from which to bring the topic to life while stretching it 360° degrees. In the process, I can say I rediscovered Hungary.
With the previously released album, Budapest 360°, as well as with the publication of Hungary 360°, I aimed at redefining the notion of panoramic photography. Because, what is the common understanding of panorama? An image of wide angle and deep horizon. Contrary to this, I believe that you do not have to stand on a summit to sense the space surrounding you as a panoramic unit. In a space of 360 degrees the overall view of objects in your reach and elements melting into the horizon creates the perfect composition for me.
Not all sites have the makings of a good scene for a panoramic photograph, and therefore our album does not follow the common and perhaps expected themes of similar endeavors.
It may also be that this compilation does not display the most famous or most widely known sights of Hungary, but rather typical and at the same time unique spectacles. Despite the 360-degree approach we never considered it our goal to provide a complete picture of Hungary. Instead, we chose to represent only a sample that would spur Hungarian readers to make new discoveries and others living outside our borders to set off and travel.
It is a small country, but at the same time large. As a chosen topic, a sight does not surrender itself on the first occasion, and so I can never say I am finished. And this is just as well. I like getting back to my favorite scenes, and I know a lot of exciting new topics are out there waiting for me. We can make new discoveries together if, every now and then, you visit www.hungary360.hu.
Tamás Varga D.
360 Art Ltd.
Content page with English and Hungarian info text
(click to enlarge)
Sample page with texts (real size: 64 x 18 cm)
(click to enlarge)
Mohács – the Buso Carnival
INFO TEXT
There exist two different explanations for the origins of the Busó Carnival in Mohács. According to the first, the Sokác, a Slavic people who settled in southern Hungary, donned these grotesque clothes to scare off the Turks, though this does not seem likely as the Sokác only settled around Mohács after 1687, at the end of Turkish rule in Hungary. The other explanation suggests that the purpose of the Busó Carnival was to chase away the winter. At the end of February men don their furry coats inside out, hide their faces behind masks, grab a rattle and start roving the streets. They are accompanied by jankeles carrying bags full of ash. They are necessary to scare off children, as they can spoil the sorcery. At the end of the carnival a coffin is burned and thus a symbolic end is put to the rule of winter.
CAPTION
The promise of springtime arrives in Mohács year after year when the masked men appear. Busós, jankeles, masks, the ringing of cow bells, the strident sound of horns and the rattles chase the frost far away. After the carnival at dusk, the masked monsters in coats gather around the fire. They chase the onlookers, jump about happily and spin round. You can feel that the numbness of the winter months are over, and, as soon as the first feeble sunbeams dissolve the clouds above, the trees will start sprouting.
Sample page with texts (real size: 64 x 18 cm)
(click to enlarge)
Kecskemét – City Hall
INFO TEXT
Archaeological evidence shows that first half-nomadic peoples, then conquering Magyars settled in this region. The name Kecskemét is first documented in 1353, and only 15 years later it is cited as a market town in a charter of King Louis the Great. In 1439 the widow of Albert Hapsburg, Queen Elizabeth, forfeited it. The armies of the Sultan arrived first as destroyers in 1526, then as occupiers in 1541. From 1710 Kecskemét was the vassal city of the Hapsburgs. It managed to release itself from the bond in 1832: The citizens collected 170,000 pengőforints to buy their city’s freedom. In 1911 a heavy earthquake shook Kecskemét, then after the short lived communist Republic of Councils, the bloodshed of the White Terror cast its shadow. Kecskemét has been the county seat since 1950.
CAPTION
In Kecskemét next to the city hall the statue of Lajos Kossuth is standing just like he, the leader of the Reform Age was when he called for the citizens of Kecskemét to fight for their freedom. And the men – one in every three fit for battle – joined the army, and they did not give in, even when all was lost. Then 150 years have passed and under the tune of the chimes of the clock in the tower someone is still humming the old song about the best young men of the city going to war against the Emperor of Austria and Hungary.
Sample page with texts (real size: 64 x 18 cm)
(click to enlarge)
Őrség - The Isle of Happiness
INFO TEXT
Vendlands, the part of the Vasi Ridges that is nearest the point where the three borders of Hungary, Slovenia and Austria meet, is rich in precipitation and, thus, not lacking in water. Yet, due to the characteristics of the soil, farming has never really been significant here. As forests have been cleared by burning for centuries, most of the trees are pines. Oaks and beeches have lost enormous ground. The region was inhabited as early as Roman times but today is home to the Vends, a small group speaking an old Slovenian dialect – though their name may well be of Celtic or Illyrian origin. Őrfalu and Felsőszölnök – Andovci and Cornji Senik – are the two Vend villages, the latter being the most western settlement in Hungary.
CAPTION
Here the forests take the place of the sea. The wind brings the smell of pine and, instead of the roaring waves, the swishing sound of branches. In the middle of this infinity someone who turned an ancient peasant house into an isle of happiness has found his peace – as an Austrian in Hungary among Slovenians. He did not need anything else, only what we can all find easily: a small house with a thatched roof, some old furniture, stones, jugs and a few plants.
Imprint
Photos: Tamas D. Varga
Text: Sandor Szelesi
Graphic design: Zsuzsanna Benczur
Translation: Gergely Kamper
Proof-reading: Krisztina Molnar, Chris Condon
Published by: 360 Art Ltd. Budapest, Hungary, 2006
ISBN 963 218 136 0
