The Past - 6. view

The Past
1967–1978

Péter Korniss’ first photographs were taken in Transylvania, Hungary and the surrounding countries. During the 1960s and 1970s, despite the rigid political and economic circumstances, in certain regions of Eastern Europe several villages preserved their traditional peasant culture both in their everyday dress and their customs on festive occasions. In the 1970s a generation grew up in Hungary with no visual experience of this world, least of all of Transylvania, which at that time counted as a politically particularly sensitive region.
In the period between the two world wars in Hungarian photography traditional peasant culture became the main theme in the trend known as the “Hungarianizing” style. This popular trend gave an idealized picture of the peasant world both in its approach and its compositions.
It was this traditional world that Korniss wanted to show and preserve. Characteristic of his pictures is the artist’s strong emotional bond with his subjects, to whom he returned several times over the years in order to see how their lives were turning out.
These photographs were the subject of his first solo exhibition (Hall of Arts, Budapest, 1974) and his first books (Heaven’s Bridegroom, 1975; Passing Times, 1979).