Village youth in Hungary
Noémi Napsugár Melegh
The aim of my project is to present the lives of Roma youngsters living in the Hungarian countryside, looking for an answer to what external and internal influences form their personality and self-image. Family ties and relations play an extremely important part in Roma communities, thus observing them are essential in understanding the values and traditions that are still strongly present in their culture to this day, and which also fundamentally define their identity.
Some of the problems faced by Roma communities across Europe are reflected in young Roma’s transition to adulthood, namely poverty, exclusion and lack of opportunities within and outside their community. Although today there are a large number of important initiatives that promote Roma inclusion, (in terms of education, reproductive health, employment opportunities and so on), it is essential that this is done in light of the environmental influences, their social habits, beliefs and unique traditions.
My series is based on personal motivation too, as I have been interested in Roma culture for a long time. In the past few years I have formed a close relationship with a small community in Nógrád County, and and such I have had the opportunity to be present at important family events such as births, weddings, birthdays, village fairs, funerals.
Noémi Napsugár Melegh was born in 1990 in Budapest, Hungary, and is currently a full-time photojournalist for telex.hu, one of the largest independent news portals in Hungary. Although she has been interested in photography since she was in high school, she worked as a health economist for several years after having obtained her BA and MSc in Economics. During the past two years, she has participated in several international training courses: she was a fellow of the VII Academy Level 1 and Level 2 Documentary Photography Seminar, a participant of the Magnum workshop organised by the Robert Capa Center in Budapest, and a fellow of the Canon Student Development programme and of the prestigious Eddie Adams workshop in Jeffersonville, New York. Her true passion lies in creating long-form documentary projects that focus on personal stories and presenting the lives of local, marginalised communities. In 2023, she won 2nd place in the Documentary Photography (Series) category of the Hungarian Press Photo Contest with her work titled as "Gábor and Kálmán", which tells the story of two men living on the margins of the Roma community. In the same year, she was awarded the Hemző-Károly Prize, a prestigious yearly award for a photographer under 35.