10/10/2023
budapest, hu
Everyday souls who bring Budapest to life, preserving their stories in grainy, imperfect frames
Budapest is a city that invites observation. Whether it's the tourists admiring the grandeur of the Parliament building or the locals hurrying through the markets in District VIII, there's a unique energy that flows through its streets. I’ve always been drawn to the way people move through cities—the way they pause, interact, and continue on their way, often without realizing they’ve left an impression on the space around them. Fleeting Moments is about capturing those interactions, those glimpses into the lives of strangers, before they disappear.
The decision to shoot this series on film was an essential part of the process. Film forces you to slow down, to pay attention to the smallest details. Each shot is intentional, each frame holds a weight that digital photography can sometimes gloss over.
With film, there’s no instant feedback, no ability to review the shot until the roll is developed. This process mirrors the fleeting nature of the moments I was capturing—once a moment has passed, it’s gone forever, preserved only in memory or, in this case, on film. The rawness of film, with its grain and subtle imperfections, perfectly complements the unpolished, everyday scenes of Budapest’s streets.
Walking through the streets of Budapest, I became a quiet observer, blending into the background as life unfolded around me. What struck me most were the small, unremarkable moments that seemed to hold the most weight: a street vendor handing a bouquet of flowers to a customer, a mother and child sharing a quiet moment on a park bench, an old man waiting for a tram at sunset. These were the moments that spoke to me—the fleeting, transient interactions that, though small, reveal the soul of the city. Through my lens, I sought to capture not just the people, but the emotions, the subtle exchanges, and the untold stories that live in the space between action and stillness.
The light might hit the lens in an unexpected way, or the focus might soften at just the right moment, creating a sense of intimacy. These imperfections became part of the story, reflecting the impermanence of the moments I was trying to capture.
As I wandered through the city, I was often struck by the quiet moments of reflection that seemed to contrast with the hustle and bustle around them. People pausing to take in their surroundings, lost in thought for just a second before moving on. In those moments, Budapest revealed its softer side, its slower rhythm. Fleeting Moments is as much about these moments of stillness as it is about the movement of the streets. It’s about the quiet moments of connection—the unspoken exchanges between strangers, the shared glances, the brief touches—that make life in the city so deeply human.
What I discovered through this project is that Budapest, for all its history and grandeur, is a city defined by its people. The architecture, the bridges, the streets themselves are all beautiful in their own right, but it is the people who bring them to life. Through Fleeting Moments, I wanted to honor these everyday souls—the commuters, the tourists, the shopkeepers, the children—who pass through the city’s streets, leaving behind small imprints of their lives. They are the heartbeat of Budapest, and it is their stories, however brief, that define the city’s soul.
