STAINLESS | URBAN FLOW | SQUARES, by Adam Magyar

While spending extensive time in cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kolkata and New York, I was getting increasingly fascinated by man-made structures. I consider all man’s scientific achievements an integral part of human evolution. So, to me the city is not less of a natural environment than the rainforest. It is an ever-present human desire to go further and leave some trace behind in the fraction of the time we are given.
My drive is not different. I aim to grasp the devices at hand, push towards new frontiers by converting already existing technologies for photography in the hope of coming up with something new, a new device, a new language, a new frontier.

The factor of time is essential both in our private history and for humanity as a community. I am more interested in the drama of our own transience. In my works I capture man’s finite time in infinity. In my images I “stage” a situation where people are seen from a distance and I depict them as particles in a system. The observer of this scene is an imaginary person, looking at the whole as an outsider, as if being exempt from the laws of time.
I also perceive time and events taking place subjectively, consequently inappropriately. I find particular events more important than others, so I would instinctively emphasize them in my compositions. To eliminate this problem, I am experimenting with systems that relate to reality like watches and record series of events objectively. I build digital camera systems, adopt industrial machine-vision cameras and set up script-driven post processing methods.

Stainless 7258, New York

Stainless 03621, Tokyo

Stainless B.14536, Paris

In STAINLESS I scan rushing subway trains arriving to stations. The images record a number of tiny details of this moment. We see people staring towards their destinations standing at the doors framed by the sliding door windows. They are scrutinizing the uncertain future. Similarly to all my images, their main motivation is arrival. The darkness of the tunnels deep below the city turns these chemically clean mock-ups into fossils of our time.

Urban Flow 247, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 247, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 1506, New-York

Urban Flow 1506, New-York

Urban Flow 293, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 293, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 484, Tokyo

Urban Flow 484, Tokyo

Urban Flow 333, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 333, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 323, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 323, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 316, Hong-Kong

Urban Flow 316, Hong-Kong

URBAN FLOW is a study of quantifying motions and analyzing the rhythm of our environment. The outcome is an abstract transformation of reality. The technique I used for it is identical with that of photo-finish cameras used in the Olympic Games.
Making these images means constant data collection about life passing by in front of me. The photos taken this way are sections of infinite time flowing by relentlessly, like our own life spans.
Perspective and depth are missing from these photos, people are like beads on a string.  As if predestinated, they follow the same track, heading to the same destination.  

Hong Kong II

Tokyo I

Tokyo IV

SQUARES is a series of non-existent urban places. I created fake aerial photos and city vertigos by sequencing the same section of sidewalks and meticulously assembling collections of people.

 

Adam Magyar

Adam Magyar is captivated by high-tech cities and man choosing to live an urban life. Magyar depicts the synergies of man and the city, and embraces the city as home to both man and technology. With each of his series, he observes time flowing by and life pulsating in front of his eyes. In his works, he scrutinizes the transience of life and man’s inherent urge to leave some trace behind. Magyar is keen on adopting and reinventing contemporary devices like industrial machine-vision cameras to be able to produce his unique cityscapes. 

Adam Magyar (born 1972) is a Berlin-based Hungarian photographer. His works have been exhibited in various solo and group shows internationally including Helsinki Photography Biennial in Finland, MFAH Mixed Media event and the Graduate School of Design Harvard University in the USA, Berlin Selected Artists exhibitions in Germany, the Ethnographic Museum Budapest and Faur Zsofi Gallery in Hungary, Rhubarb Rhubarb in the UK and Karin Weber Gallery in Hong Kong. His works are present in the collections of Deutsche Bank, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and the Bidwell Projects. His photographs have been published in the book In the Life of Cities by the Graduate School of Design Harvard University, Light and Lens by Robert Hirsch, and in photography magazines including PDN and PQ Magazine in the USA, Flash Art in Hungary, Digital Camera Magazine in UK and Katalog in Denmark.