For forty years, the Hungarian Press Photo Competition and Exhibition has been the largest Hungarian showcase for photojournalism. This year’s photos feature such topics as the pandemic, of course, but ballet, birds, swimming, and marching are also returning themes on the pictures. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites from this year’s winning photos below.
The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers alike.
On January 13, 2021, a truck caught fire while driving on highway 4. the driver tried to extinguish it with a fire extinguisher. after seeing that it was hopeless, he watched it burn to the ground. The photo won third place in the category of News, event photography. Photo by Szabolcs László/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
A nurse holds the hand of a 93-year-old patient in the internal medicine ward of a coronavirus-infected patient at the Uzsoki Utca Hospital in Budapest, Hungary, on April 7, 2021. The photo won first place in the category of News, event photography. Photo by Móricz-Sabján Simon/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
Online ballet classes at Ladybird Studio in Szeged, on March 9, 2021. Due to pandemic restrictions, live rehearsals could not be held, so ballerinas could log in from home to follow classes. The photo won 2nd place in the Art (individual) category. Photo by Tamás Oláh/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
The picture was taken in South Africa. The cutter is working on the kaffir buffalo watch, which he wears with considerable vulgarity. The photo won first place in the category of Nature and Science (individual). Photo by Attila Géza Szabó/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
At the end of 2019, a 32-week pregnant woman was expecting twins, but she couldn’t raise the children, so she decided to give them up for adoption. She wanted to give her babies specifically to gay couples who live in a garden house and don’t have children yet. She chose Stephen and his husband Thomas. The two men are among the last to adopt before a law change that made same-sex adoption impossible, and they know of no similar couple who could have adopted twins. Today, the fathers and twins live just as ordinary and normal lives as any straight family, but they are not having an easy time of it because of the changed circumstances in this country. The two men had to give up the right to have a biological child legally. “If we’d gone into adoption in another country, we could have rented a house or had a child with a lesbian couple, but we didn’t want to be weekend dads,” they say. This photo is part of a photo series that won second place in the category of Everyday life (series). Photo by Orsolya Apjek/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
Alexandru and Péter, shepherds, next to the chemical fertilizer plant in Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mures) on March 10, 2021. The photo won first place in the category of the Portrait of a man (individual). Photo by István M. Kerekes/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
“I had two children.” This photo is part of a photo series that won 3rd place in the category of Portrait of a person (series). Photo by Tünde Nemes/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
Szandra Pergel, table tennis player, against Hirano Miu of Japan at the Tokyo Olympics on 1 August 2021. The photo won 2nd place in the category of Sport (individual). Photo by Tibor Illyés/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
The FINA High Diving Qualifier was one of the highlights of the FINA Aquatics Festival, held alongside the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Abu Dhabi in December 2021. The high divers competed to book their respective spots at next year’s FINA World Championships to be held in Fukuoka. As usual, the men jumped from 27m, while the women from 20m. The photo is part of a photo series that won 3rd place in the category of Sport (series). Photo by Derencsényi István/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
The fox called Roxy jumped on the bonnet of the car and listened to the sound of the camera clicking inside on March 28, 2021. “One evening I parked in the yard, which was so unusual for a fox who regularly walks in the yard that he jumped up to investigate the situation. I was very surprised at this, but as I’d seen his tracks on the car before, I didn’t wonder much. I was set up for another scene, but as I knew he would be back in an hour and a half, I set the scene there and waited. I was lucky, he jumped up again, so we both adjusted to the new situation,” the photographer writes. The photo is part of a photo series that won first place in the category of Nature and Science (series). Photo by Milan Radisics/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
Ilona Kígyós lives with her parents in Hencida, a small village, and studies at an art school in Debrecen. To get to school, she gets up at five every day and doesn’t get home until late afternoon. It wasn’t easy for the family to afford a laptop for digital education during the pandemic, but as their daughter’s education comes first, they cut the family budget elsewhere. The photo is part of a photo series that won 3rd place in the category of Social portraiture, documentary photography (series). Photo by Ákos Stiller/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
New Year Bear Dancing Festival in Comanesti, Moldova on December 30, 2021. The photo is part of a photo series that won 3rd place in the category of Art (series). Photo by: Sándor Csudai/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
On July 12, 2021, a tense situation developed at a demonstration of the Hatvannégy Vármegye Youth Movement, notorious for its far-right views, organized in front of the offices of the LGBTQ rights organization Háttér Társaság. The photo won 2nd place in the News and Event Photo category. Photo by Dénes Erdős/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website
To view all the photos submitted, click here.
Featured image: One of the biggest sporting events of the summer was the European Football Championship. This year, for the first time, the European Championship was held in several countries and cities. As a result, the Hungarian national team played several matches in Budapest. As with all major matches, the Hungarian fans’ camp made a huge march to the venue, which was the Puskás Arena. The photo won third place in the category of Social portraiture, documentary photography (individual). Photo by Péter Zsolnai/40th Hungarian Press Photo Contest’s website