Zoltán Jókay

There is nothing cool or distant about Zoltán Jókay's portraits. Revolving as they do around themes of intimacy, closeness, and the sense of being touched, both literally and figuratively, his images sometimes seem anachronistic, but that is part of their unique appeal. Jókay's pictures are “self-images”: forming a personal visual language, they are a tool through which the photographer can approach his own biography, through which he can understand it and protect himself against it. The son of Hungarian immigrants, Jókay grew up on the outskirts of Munich. In the early 1990s, he attracted attention via a series of portraits concerned with childhood as a period of vulnerability and loneliness, works that can be seen as reflections on his own early experiences. Remembering was followed by three more series during the next decade: Encountering, Growing Up, and Fremd. The portraits in these groups speak of the various nuances of happiness and alienation. Richly illustrated in full color, this book is the first presentation of these portrait series by Zoltán Jókay.