“In the impressively voluminous oeuvre of Sándor Nagygyörgy portraits and reportages as well as architectual photographs do play a prominent role. His renown, however – which can be called international without exaggeration – is due to his nature photographs. It is no error to call his nature photographs paintings recorded on film…”
( Magyar Hírlap , 19th December 1994)
The primary aim of Sándor Nagygyörgy's photographic art was to discover the hidden beauties of nature. His attention was ceaselessly captivated by the stunning scenes of the ephemeral world; the discovery, understanding, and presentation of the harmonious relations and correspondences between the natural and the human worlds; the effective merging of the human with the natural – the revelation of what few can or are able to see. In the pictures on the CD, rarely do people appear. Nevertheless, the natural experience he grasps is, consciously or unconsciously, a permanent element in human life.
“I want to learn to know the everyday secrets of nature, to find out the millennial rites of animal life. I must approach all this and yet remain unnoticed, so that, if possible, my presence should not disturb the strictly determined order of nature. I wish to record an objective and true picture,” he confessed.
Still, when compiling the material for his exhibitions, he always focused on the presence of man.
“Those experiences and events carry me away the most which evoke human feelings and instincts […]. I have not looked for isolated, ‘beautiful' pictures floating in thin air. I have wanted the material to have some core, an emotional structure, something to hold it together, while the individual pictures are compiled into series according to an inner dramaturgy…”
(“De Natura” – Budapest, Museum of Agriculture, Nov 2 to Dec 2, 1979; quoted from the prospectus)
Nagygyörgy's working process is illustrated by the following excerpt from an interview: “What is the greatest joy in your work?” his interviewer asked.
“To catch the moment one has been waiting for months or years.”
“And what is the most difficult?”
“To wait for the moment for months or years,” he answered.
( Magyar Hírlap , 12th October 1980)
In his pictures no trace can be found of the countless manipulative opportunities provided by the widespread use of electronic technology. His generation was the last that could only produce photographs in natural conditions. Thus his oeuvre is not only outstanding in terms of aesthetics and art but it is also a high-quality, irrecoverable, and faithful documentation of four decades of the last century – and nature as it was then.
Dates and sites of the photographs
Pictures from Hungary : over the creative years, 1968 to 1993
GEMENC region – present-day Danube & Drava Natural Park
GYULAJ FORESTRY – part of it is a nature reserve today
MÁRTÉLY, Tisza region, Alföld – nature reserve region of the Kiskunság National Park
KIS-BALATON – Western Transdanubia, Natural Park
Bakony, Mecsek, Bükk hills; as well as – on occasion or commission – several other regions of Hungary. The pictures about the Small Balaton were taken between 1984 and 1990. In this project he was assisted by his brother, András Nagygyörgy, over the last years.
Pictures from abroad : 1972 to 1983 Kaspi Sea region – Jun 15 to Jul 1, 1972
Greece – Aug 1 to Aug 25, 1978
Lake Baikal – Aug 1979
Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway – Jul 1 to Aug 1, 1981, Jan 1989.
Transylvania: Hargita, Kovaszna – Jul 1980, Mar 1990
Africa: Tanzania safari – Jan 14 to Feb 26, 1983
The approximately 2500 pictures presented here provide an insight into the colour material of the archive.
© legal successor of Sandor Nagygyörgy
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