Imre Nagy, a photo from Pest, West

Photographer's Note

The statue of Imre Nagy, the prime minister during the 1956 revolution, looking at the building of the Parliament.
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This will be a long post so only read if you are interested in history. :)

Imre Nagy was a reform communist, who worked on the elimination of Stalin’s legacy in the first part of the ‘50-es. By 1955 he was pushed out of power by his fellow comrades, who disapproved of his intentions on building a more humane system. On the 23 October 1956, when the revolution broke out and the revolutionists demanded him to return to return to a leading position, he first hesitated, because, being a convinced communist, he was afraid of a possible right turn as a result of the revolution. On the other hand, he thought that this is a splendid opportunity to restore his reputation after his fellow party members destroyed it a few years earlier. So he decided to accept the offer and became the prime minister on 27 October 1956. As a prime minister he refused to launch attack against the revolutionists, instead he started negotiations and offered amnesty. He also started negotiations with the Soviets on the withdrawal of Soviet troops and denounced the Warsaw Treaty, declaring that Hungary will be a neutral party between the two Superpowers.
The Soviets apparently withdrew their troops for two reasons: first, they needed to reinforce and regroup them. Secondly, those troops, have been stationed in Hungary for two years by that time and most of them refused to fight against the Hungarians. Some of them acctually joined the freedom fighters, but most of them stayed neutral and instead of engaging in fights, they engaged in spontaneous picnics with the Hungarian people on the top of their tanks. I guess, that later they didn’t get medals for doing so…
On the 4th November 1956, Soviet troops launched their counter attack against the Hungarian revolution. Some sources claim that they had 1200 tanks, while others talk about 2000. The Hungarian armed forces were heavily outnumbered anyway. With a few exceptions they surrendered. The countryside and the major cities basically fell within a day. Sporadic gunfights occurred, eg. at the University of Miskolc, where two students lost their lives. In Budapest, however some districts held their positions until the 11 of November 1956.
After the revolution, the new government executed Imre Nagy alongside with 235 participants of the revolution. (Some sources claim that there were more than 235 persons).
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Yashica Electro 35, at f 4, ca. 1/250, Fuji APX 400 BW film (not expired this time), ND 4 filter on.

pajaran, jhm, dkmurphys, alvaraalto, adramad, macjake has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jhm (211734) 2016-11-04 4:26

Hello Gy,

You placed the statue nice to the left side.
On this way we can see the building of the Parliament.
A nice panorama view about the area.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

cagla (4342) 2016-11-04 4:50

A lovely presentation of the subject, by choosing the B/W, the sharpness on the statue, framing, etc. A lovely tale about a city. Thank you for your note too.

Sergiom (117241) 2016-11-04 6:06

Bonjour Gyorgy

Encore une fois un petit côté vintage des plus intéressant pour cette composition qui ressemble à une photo sortie d'un grenier empoussiéré.

Amicalement

Serge

iainsp (3298) 2016-11-04 6:29

Greetings Gyorgy,

I have been looking through your portfolio and really enjoying some of your black-and-white work - in my mind they divide very much in to two categories - one, like this in which the sense of timelessness of the image is supported by a monochrome approach - others where the clear modernity of the image creates interesting tensions with the non-colour presentation. Of course, B&W alone does not produce a good photo - the composition in this shot is very impressive and produces a beautiful peice of work.

regards,

Iain

BennyV (34734) 2016-11-04 7:47

A wonderful picture to post as a tribute to the victims of already 60 years ago, Gy.

In Belgium several quality newspapers commemorated the events, but the long-ish note certainly is appropriate, as many people outside Hungary probably don't know that much about it.

At the time some Hungarian families fled to Antwerp, my best mate's grandparents were among those.

Time was.

Benny

Silvio1953 (220553) 2016-11-04 8:05

Ciao Gyorgy, fascinating B&W, lovely composition, excellent perspective and splendid light, very well done, my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

holmertz (101956) 2016-11-04 8:38

Hello György,
The sculpture is well placed facing an iconic view and you captured the scene in a timeless B&W photo in a suitable vertical shape. The note is an important reminder of what happened 60 years ago when most TE members were either very small or not even born.
No offence intended, honestly, but did any Hungarian soldiers receive medals for invading Czechoslovakia in 1968?
Have a nice weekend,
Gert

dkmurphys (79209) 2016-11-04 9:09

Hi Gyorgy,
Nice artistic scene. I've read nowadays about the polo olympic bloody game between Hungary and URSS after the November events. Everywhere, the Communism failed and it will fail. Hope it will never return.

D

ktanska (44464) 2016-11-04 12:54

Hi György,
This statue could be alive, although the head turned away from your camera gives it static feeling. Carefully framed shot with moody blurry background. B&W fits well on the theme.
Kari

PiotrF (54246) 2016-11-04 17:26

Hello Gyorgy,
Interesting picture from Budapest. nice view of statue of Imre Nagy.Perfect exposure, fine composition.Good clarity and sharpness. Lovely presentation.
Regards
Piotr

alvaraalto (42804) 2016-11-05 15:39

Hello Gy
In 1956 I was 8 years old. There was no television yet. We heard the news of the revolution in Hungary on the radio and read in in the paper. I still can remember it and always remembered the name of Imre Nagy and how you had to pronounce it.
That makes your excellent B&W picture extra nostalgic for me
Excellent work.
Have a nice Sunday.
Groet Rob

kasianowak (17672) 2016-11-06 12:06

I really like the tones and contrast in this b&w work. There is something mysterious in this image - the main subject is a statue but could well be a person...
I think I have to add it to my favs. :-)
Have a nice evening
Kasia

emka (157280) 2016-11-06 23:34

hello Gyorgy,

very interesting note about the Hungarian revolution. I was a kid but I remember it. we had also in Poland some events in June that year. I forgot that Imre Nagy and other revolutionists were executed. Later there was Dubcek in Czechoslovakia and finally Wałęsa. And now our both countries are going back.
beautiful picture in black and white. with this soft background there is a lot off nostalgia.

WArm regrad s MAlgo

adramad (72536) 2016-11-07 8:24

Hello Gy.
A fantastic composition, with the sculpture of the man in the foreground, that from that railing seems to observe the big picture that includes the city, the image reminds me of the films of the '50s.
Very well done. My congratulations.
All the best and have a good start to the week.
Luis.

macjake (98262) 2016-11-09 0:34

Hi Gy
sorry, I've been away from TE a bit for the past few days.
your most recent posts are A+ my friend, I'll be sure to get to all of them in time.

If i'm ever in Budapest, I'll be sure to capture this exact same scene, I enjoy it that much.

its wonderful to see the famous parliament buildings in such a different point of view. and to have the history of the former PM is an added bonus. well done
cheers
Craig

tulipan7 (804) 2016-11-19 11:30 [Comment]