Previous uploads
Mar 16, 2023
40 years - 4000 images
The decades of Communist Hungary, through the lens of non-professional photographers and of families, images of photojournalists, industrial photographers, photos of a film director, of a Communist-era mayor and of a writer.
Dec 07, 2022
50 Donors, 5000 New Images on Fortepan
What was we happened to see of the past in 2022? Paramount photos of families, photographers, collectors, selected by the Fortepan team. A century, glanced from a hundred points of view, on 5000 photos “hitherto never seen”
Oct 16, 2022
Photos of József Horváth cameraman, reporter
1300 photographs from the legacy of a filmmaker. Hungary in the middle of the grim, fateful 20th century, through the camera of a correspondent with a personal touch. Shifting borders, the defeat of the Hungarian army at the river Don, and the family stories of József Horváth in black and white and colour.
Aug 19, 2022
Two authors – Two Thousand Images
The most important photos from two legacies, those of György Faragó, photo journalist, and of Krisztián Gyulai Gaál, director of photography, respectively. Two thousand photos from the Communist period, on football fields, hikers, concerts and friends. Everyday life and propaganda, through the cameras of two photographers, both with a personal touch of their own kind.
Jun 19, 2022
The Photo Legacy of József Reményi
The focus of this collection is the photo journal of first lieutenant József Reményi. The author, a logistics officer of a hospital train, was part of Eastern front missions in 1942/43 altogether 17 times. During this time, he took hundreds of photos on the life of the hospital train and the wartime days in the Ukraine.
May 21, 2022
Travels in Europe
A compilation from the photo collection of the University of Milwaukee.Travels from England to Greece, from Paris – through Budapest and Cluj – to Warsaw. Street vendors, craftsmen and city dwellers in a Europe divided by régimes and dictatorships, through the lens of professional photojournalists — among them Harrison Foreman, correspondent of the New York Times.
Apr 03, 2022
3000 sharp images
from the blurred 20th century. We have selected pictures from over forty donors. Recurrent, but never boring venues, situations, places, from some haphazardly related negative rolls
Feb 11, 2022
3000 Photos from the FOMTERV Archive
Selected from the archive of FŐMTERV (Municipal Civil Engineering Design Company). The grand construction projects of the Kádár Era. Over-and underpasses in Budafok, Pesterzsébet, the streets of Zugló, markets, bus depots and blocs soon to be demolished. The archive of a large construction company, preserved in an exemplary manner.
Dec 21, 2021
2700 New Photos
In this series we have included some of the best negatives from twenty different donors. It is through home-made, amateur snapshots that we can let you have a glance at the dramatic 20th century, nobody can ever get tired of.The first journey to the West, or the very first rented apartment, taken on the first roll of film. 2700 meaningful photos, recording negligible moments.
Nov 07, 2021
2200 Prints
In this series you can browse images scanned from printed photos from over 60 donors. Apart from family albums we represent here some larger collections: the legacy of György Révész, film director, the photos of the Red Army taken in 1945, the aviation archive of Ferenc Nasztanovics, and the local history photos covering Subotica, Serbia (Szabadka in Hungarian).
Sep 18, 2021
FŐFOTÓ - 2nd edition
Below you can find the second, concluding part of what we have chosen from the FŐFOTO (Municipal Photo Company) archive, the continuation of the spring instalment. You’ll find 2200 images, focusing on three subjects: film posters and hand-painted film ads on large canvases, advertising and fashion photos from the advent of Hungarian advertising photography, street photography block by block, from the inner districts of Budapest. Several hundreds of colour photos, on classic modern buildings, on products impossible to sell, on clothes difficult not to smile at. Professional photos from a DIY world.
Jul 11, 2021
Our Most Recent Old Photos Summer '21
This time we have uploaded 2200 photos from 22 donors to the Fresh section of Fortepan. Apart from the ever familiar amateur photo legacies (ones we can never grow tired of), we included images from the oeuvre of two of our pivotally important photo journalists, of Zoltán Szalay and Tamás Urbán. Moreover, we selected close to 400 photos from the WWI collection of the National Library of Austria.
May 12, 2021
Our Most Recent Old Photos
Have a look at 2300 hitherto unknown images from 65 donors in the “Fresh” section of Fortepan. If we place the images from family albums and negative rolls close to one another, we can sort of stroll along the entire 20th century. Here you can find our highly personal selection, the subject of which is human being and human passing. Holidays, relocation calamities, uniforms, public and private holidays. Transit employees, emigrants, pioneers. Our earlier selves – all this once happened to us.
Apr 01, 2021
FŐFOTÓ I.
Have a look at the 60s and the 70s through the cameras of Budapest Municipal Photography Company (FŐFOTO). Out of a legacy of more than 200 000 negatives, we have uploaded about 5000 frames. In this first instalment there are street photos, building- and street views, images of hotels, espressos, and workplace interiors. Also, we have included several hundred outdoor movie ads, uniquely produced to fit the sites, fences, tram stops, or notice boards. Also, this special collection abounds in advertising and fashion photos – often survived on colour negatives. If you are interested in the design history of the period, you mustn’t miss all this.
Feb 25, 2021
Sándor Kereki
Sándor Kereki was born in Budapest in 1952 and started photographing at the age of 16. On his images, grotesque as well as emotional scenes come to life from the everyday life of socialist Hungary in the 70s. After fifty years he decided to pulish his images that depict the world of a street photographer focusing primarily on people, special figures and odd characters. From the thousands of negatives taken by him over ten years, we selected 1,850 photographs for Fortepan and we also recommend to check out our hundred favorite Kereki photos.