Over ten million gipsies live across Europe, with about one million of them in Hungary. They have problems and there are problems with several of them. There have been hate killings in recent years, and they are considered to be a highly delicate issue. The latter aspects have been widely covered in the media and the issues are heavily politicised.
I do not pretend to have an answer to all those issues. However, I have a genuine interest in them, in their silent majority. Not as a lot, but as individuals. I grew up among them as a country boy. Visiting my father in the provinces I take regular detours to their communities. The photographs have been taken in various parts of Hungary in the past two years. A few subjects I have known from my childhood, but most of them were complete strangers when I first walked up their streets. It is not easy at all to earn their confidence when they are fully aware of prejudices against them, but all the more rewarding to be permitted in their houses and observe their candid moments.
Thus this essay is not aimed at making a political statement. These are evolving fragments of a jigsaw, attempting to read from their eyes and circumstances how the “nonnewsworthy” go through the everyday drama of the human condition.
Minimalistic post processing has been applied in an effort to retain the unmanipulated sincerity of the photographs.