He is the first in the history of Hungarian photography, the third in the history of European photography, and the ninth photographer in the history of world photography to win this award, and he is also the youngest among the winners so far.
István Kerekes, originally from Marosvásárhely but living in Hungary, became the world champion photographer, or the best of the best (Best of the Best) in 2023, the National Association of Hungarian Photographic Creative Groups announced on Monday.
He is the first in the history of Hungarian photography, the third in the history of European photography, and the ninth photographer in the history of world photography to win this award, and he is also the youngest among the winners so far.
Since 2010, the International Federation of Photographers (FIAP) annually announces the previous year's most successful photographers worldwide. The result is awarded on the basis of the main prize (Best Author of Salon) most often won in various international photo contests. In 2023, István won the main prize for the best author 42 times in various photo contests in eighteen countries around the world, thereby ending the year 2023 in first place in the world rankings, winning the FIAP Best of the Best in the World 2023 title, the best photographer in the world .
The vast majority of the photos entered in the photo competitions were taken in Transylvania and Máramaros due to the photographer's connections to Transylvania, and it should be emphasized that in order to achieve this result, he had to participate and even win in several categories. In many cases, the categories of photo contests are significantly different, so the photo artist testifies to his versatility with the results achieved in several categories at the same time.
The world champion photographer said:
the fact that an artist achieves results in several categories at the same time, differing from each other in terms of style, technical implementation or way of thinking, can be compared to when, in sports, during the two- or four-hundred-meter medley, the athlete must be the best in several types of swimming at the same time in order to get a good result.
We found out that he was called on his birthday and informed that based on his results in 2023 he became the "best of the best" in the world. By the way, the result was only made public later, on Monday. As he said, this was an "unbelievably great joy" for him, since it is the result of a series of competitions for which you cannot consciously prepare, and preparation is "continuous work", competition. However, the path leading to the final result is extremely complex - it is decided who receives this recognition after summing up thousands of results achieved in hundreds of competitions. In addition, FIAP examines how many times the photographer participating in the contests became the best and most successful creator of the salons (with the most accepted and awarded pictures). The award will be presented at the annual convention of the International Association of Photographic Artists in November, this time in India.
"This is the world championship title in photography, because hundreds, thousands of us compete for it, and I am very, very happy that I managed to achieve this"
István Kerekes revealed. In fact, the photographer achieved everything that can be achieved in the art of photography. Since its establishment in 2010, a total of nine people worldwide have received the award, three of them twice.
To the suggestion that there is only one way to overcome this, namely if he manages to get it three times, István Kerekes laughed and replied:
"For me, this is the peak, it doesn't get any higher than this. But I was asked before: »István, why do you like to win all the time?« Well, I was an elite athlete from the age of 6 to the age of 22, and it was already instilled in me that if I go to a national championship, then I have to win there, and that's in a person stays. An American swimmer born in 1902, Ethelda Marguerite Bleibtrey, when she became a three-time Olympic champion in Antwerp in 1920, answered the same question: »The joy of victory lies not in defeating others, but in defeating yourself and improving what you have you have already reached it.« I confess this too. This would be my next goal, to see if I could win this Best of the Best again one day. It's very hard work and I feel - because I really like what I do - that it's a very strong driving force that keeps me going," he said.
About how the language of photography is changing in today's digital world, István Kerekes said: he experienced for himself how his vision has refined, that he now takes his pictures much more consciously. While in the past a photographer took 6-700 pictures on one occasion, from which he selected one, ten years later he finds five out of 60-70 pictures, with which he can enter competitions and win prizes at the international level. According to his view, it is not so much photography that changes over the years and decades, as a person's perspective and attitude.
"Now I'm not talking about street or event photography, when the moment is decisive, but about a case in which I feel at home when I'm looking for a portrait. If I don't see a portrait that I feel meets my standards, I don't even take the picture."
explained the photographer.
According to István Kerekes, today's budding photographers who are thinking about participating in photo contests should first of all be careful not to make the same mistake, because "it's life-threatening": if they see a multiple prize-winning image, a lot of people start copying it, but this is a huge pitfall.
"They are able to send their pictures - which, of course, will not be like the original - to the same competition, and then they are surprised that the picture doesn't even get in, and they say, ``well, of course, the other one succeeded,'' but the the situation is not that simple... You have to learn from a winning picture, but never copy it - that's the most important thing. You have to strive to create something more unique, striking, and creative in terms of composition than the sample image, and then the road is straight."
- explained the world champion photographer, who is himself a member of the jury of countless international photo contests.
He added: the importance of the image's message is "absolutely not overwritten" by the technical features. For the message of the picture, in the case of the portrait, to capture the feelings of the person, i.e. for the depiction of people, "no devilish technique is needed", so those who are thinking about photography should not be dissuaded by the fact that today's modern machines cost a small fortune, because an older, perfect photos can be taken even with a camera available at a lower price.
"I worked on slide film with an analog camera until 2006, then I bought a Nikon camera, then in 2009 I bought my Nikon D3 camera, and I still take pictures with it, so you can say that my entire work with the D3 and two made with a lens - by the way, I am absolutely a fan of zoom optics"
- revealed the photographer.
Featured image: hir.ma / Gallery source: István Kerekes
