- This is a girl from the shelter, Ica. This is my ex-boyfriend (1).
This is a surprise picture, he didn't know that I was taking it.
Ica helped me to take the photo. That was the day that we split up.
We took these 4 photographs without him knowing (2).
- This is the guy (Lajos) that they stole the camera from. This one
should have been of my boyfriend but he hid because he spotted me.
- This is Lajos again. The other one is Tibi someone. They asked me
specially to take their picture (3).
They love each other.
- You must know him, he's the porter and he was working that night
at the 'wooden bench' (night shelter). There's a section in the shelter
where the ladies go in at night to sleep, and he was registering the ladies
(4). This is a room like the others, but we call it the 'wooden bench'
office. In the other room, the girls wouldn't allow me to photograph them.
- Now this is me, this is room 308, my boyfriend's room. It was before
we split up, it happened two days after. We've been split up since
then. I got this Coca-Cola poster from a friend of mine. We had this
table at the Konyves shelter and we brought it over from there (5).
- This is my boyfriend, before we split up. He was dressed up as a
clown (6).
- This is me room mate, he's gay as well. People can sleep where they
want (7).
- This is great! Ica is showing her good side (8).
She likes to show off.
- This is a part of the 'wooden bench'. This is a dumb girl, she can't
speak. She's making signs and stuff (9).
- This is only a hostel for the night, they just go in and sleep there.
Everybody brings their own blankets and stuff and they sleep in them.
If you're lucky you can leave them in the room because they shut
the rooms for the day.
- This is a girl who used to live here. But they moved her to József
Nádor Square. I don't know why, just because. Looking at the
leg, this must be Gabi. This is the boys room at dinner time (10).
I think this is potato with paprika. There's a separate kitchen,
we cook there.
- This is the 'wooden bench' as well.
- This is Marika. This is room 6 where I live. She was getting dressed
as I came in, and she didn't have time to pull up her trousers (11).
- This picture got taken because they asked me specially to bring to
light that they love the same sex, you know? Klari asked me to take
the picture but the other one got a shock (12).
- This is a corridor on the 3rd floor of the new shelter. The man Gyula
Papa, sells coffee here. He's 52 (13).
- This is Gravelly. We call him Gravelly because he had an operation
on his throat and he speaks in a low gravelly voice.
- I have to say that these two people are my best friends. This little
lady is pregnant and the boy is her fianc (14). The girl is in the
shelter illegally. They wouldn't let her into the paying shelter.
- I took this from a little too far away. This is Sanyi's room mate
Feri with Gabi.
- Right, this is what the bathrooms look like (15).
This is the site of the wash hand basin area, where I took the photo
of Recsi as well.
- This is Recsi, this is room 314 (16).
All of them have 4 beds in them.
- This is room 6. Here I'm showing how the ladies sleep (17).
- Here's the kitchen so you can cook. This is my friend's brother,
Menyus (18). There are 2 cooking
rings for 3 floors.
- This is a photograph of me and Kati (19).
Her fiancé took it.
- This is the guy, whose leg we saw earlier, Gabi.
- (To a friend) This is you, there you are, you're immortalised!
The pictures of the 'wooden bench' are important because they show
what life is like here. (Pregnant girl then says:) I don't want to go to
an exhibition in a short little thing like this on the picture. My
skin's too white for that. (About whether Menyus will go to the exhibition,
her fiancé‚ says:) Menyus is on for it, he's my brother, I
mean...so will we go to the exhibition together? Let's go!
Photos: end of November 1997
Interview: 16. December 1997.
