O N E DAY W E W I L L A L L C E L E B R AT E T O G E T H E R
Balázs Szigligeti
I'm experimenting with creating my own garden of eden. For me, recalling the carefree lightness of childhood is a way to portray the euphoria of life. This lightness is best represented by birthdays. From the beginning, it was clear for me that cakes would play an important role in my series; birthday cakes, which celebrate life and are made to make others happy, symbolise that sense of exhilaration.
Balázs Szigligeti is a Budapest-based photographer, who studied at The Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. His work explores the boundaries between reality and fantasy. With a foundation in digital post-processing techniques, he establishes a kind of dreamworld; his artworks celebrate the human body, plasticity, queer culture, his hedonistic friends and life itself.
Instagram: szigligetiphotography
G O L D E N L I P S
Creating and maintaining beauty has become more and more important to many of us. Anaplasty develops, ideal appearances change, and most people strive to meet those expectations. In my research, I became preoccupied with people who are focused on the beauty of their bodies in extraordinary ways. For me, the most interesting questions in this regard concern the transformation, conservation and loss of beauty – about ageing itself, and how we seek to hide its signs.
For the G O L D E N L I P S series, I photographed my mother's friends. They’re all above 50. They are mothers, wives or ex-wives. And they are rich – or they’re married to rich men. Staying young is the most important thing for them, and I feel that they’ll look young forever; they looked the same when I was 10. Scrolling through the party photos they upload to Facebook, I found the inspiration for my series. I called them to arrange a pyjama party photoshoot. They liked it. Laughing at or making fun of them was not my intention at all – these women are my inspiration – but I want viewers to feel the sadness of a lifestyle lived in pursuit of youth. To let them know that these women aren’t always smiling. Ageing and the marks it leaves affect their behaviour and emotions.