Mai Manó Gallery („Kis Manó”)

The most successful contributor of ‘Fotóporta’- portfolio consultation, organized jointly by the Studio of Young Photographers and the Hungarian House of Photography - Mai Manó House in October 2009, won the opportunity to exhibit in the Mai Manó Gallery in 2010. The professional jury awarded István Krajnik, in consequence of which the Bookplace has revealed.

BOOKPLACE

[additional reading]

“I spent most of my childhood and youth in a shop. It was my parents’ store, or rather, that of the General Consumption and Sales Cooperative in a small village off from the Soviet border. First I assisted them in trifles, later I practically, though completely illegally, became a full-fledged shopkeeper, mostly working over summer breaks. All this went down during the most glorious era of “consumer socialism” between 1968 and 1981.

The general store, as the term suggests, carries a variety of assorted goods ranging from canned liver paste to television sets. Similarly to the lottery tickets, the two shelves of books were sold at a 10 percent commission. Convincing a housewife to buy one or two volumes (“one meter long of books”) from the cloth-bound series of Masterpieces of World Literature meant a few books for me, too; these based my own library.

In the eighties, there were more and more purchases. New acquisitions were most palpable at times of moving: one box of books, five boxes of books, and many more boxes of books appeared; until the process came to a halt.

As a result of a late decision to make a family, the books found their current place five years ago. Not only had they received a new place, but they also moved in with my partner’s library. The two collections are situated at one place, essentially separated but partially already intertwined. While they differ in orientation, the books often overlap and there are double copies, too. Lately, we may be witness to some migration: one book or even groups of books disappeared from one section, only to reappear at another one. We are exploring and scouring each other’s books; sometimes we even mistake the other’s publication for ours…

The walls showcase snapshots of this phenomenal occurrence. As well, there is a real book store in the middle with books, without canned liver paste or TV sets. Let’s browse.”

(István Krajnik)

http://www.krajnik.hu/konyvter/index.html
Virtual view of the exhibition is available at this link after the opening of the exhibition.

István KRAJNIK
(Vásárosnamény, 1957)
www.krajnik.hu

education 
Kossuth Lajos University, mathematics major, 1976-1981  
Fotográfus.hu Photo School, 2005-2007 

awards 
Dunaújváros Photo Biennale 2009, Grand Prize - 2009
Fotóporta, Budapest - Best portfolio 2009 

exhibitions  
Fotóporta - Studio of Young Photographers, Millenáris Kávézó, Budapest - 2008  
inFUSION - Studio of Young Photographers, B&B, Holdudvar, Budapest - 2008  
Refresh/Living Space (Élettér) - Studio of Young Photographers, Artbázis, Budapest - 2008  
A Step Beyond - Studio of Young Photographers, VAM Design, Budapest - 2008  
Refresh/Map (Térkép) - Studio of Young Photographers, Artbázis, Budapest - 2009  
10+1, Fotográfus.hu Jubilee exhibition - Millenáris Red-Black Gallery, Budapest - 2009  
Einen Schritt weiter - FFS, Galerie Treppenhaus, Erlangen - 2009  
Regardez-moi - I'm back - L'espace Immanence, Párizs - 2009  
Dunaújváros Photo Biennale 2009, Dunaújváros - 2009

photo: Katalin Tamás