Criminal Photography from Behind the Camera

Szabolcs Barakonyi, head of the photography section of index.hu, will give a lecture entitled Criminal Photography from Behind the Camera”, in connection with the exhibition “Suicide – Hungary 1956–1986”.

The exhibition is based on the photo archive of the Crime Scene Investigation Unit of the Budapest Police Headquarters and includes a selection of pictures taken at suicide scenes. 

For three decades, between the mid-1950s and the 1980s, suicide rate in Hungary—the „happiest barracks in the East”—was the highest in the world. Why does a person decide to end his or her life? Why did one in every 2.000 persons decide to do it in Hungary? Where does the Archives take to courage from in addressing these issues, showing these photographs in public?

Szabolcs Barakonyi’s presentation will explore the different challenges faced by crime scene technicians, photographers and journalists when compiling a report or report on a suicide.

The program is in Hungarian.