Szász, Lilla
Budapest, 1977
Lilla Szász: Purple Hearts
"We had an order to shoot back in response if somebody from Iraqis throw stones at us...and we shot them" - these are lines by a former Iraqi soldier, Ilya Bratman, who wrote a book about Iraq "Ordinary madness"
Non-citizens in the military, often referred to as "green card soldiers", join the military at a rate of about 8,000 per year, according to a recent Department of Defense data. Last year, the Associated Press reported that there were close to 17,000 non-citizens on active duty.The reason for non-citizen recruits is a faster track to citizenship than for civilians, as a result of policy changes after September 11, 2001 to boost military ranks. A 2002 presidential order allows non-citizens serving in the military to apply for expedited citizenship.
This ex-Soviet community living in New York fought for a country that is not their native one. They all fought for the better: for a better future that they could give to their wives and children. The base of their identity is not their past or where they came from but the future they strive for.
They are not proud for what they did. As a matter of act, they want to forget it. Forgetting and looking into the future is the paradox between which their lives lie. (Lilla Szász)
 Purple Hearts, 2011 |  Purple Hearts, 2011 |  Purple Hearts, 2011 |
 Purple Hearts, 2011 |  Purple Hearts, 2011 |  Purple Hearts, 2011 |
Biography
| 2011 | Hungarian Eötvös Fellowship, New York, ICP |
| 2010 | Hungarian Eötvös Fellowship, New York, ICP Scholarship of the Hungarian Cultural Fund (Mother Michael Goes to Heaven) Scholarship of the Hungarian Cultural Fund (Women on the Edge) |
| 2005 | ECB Photography award – Hungary today (third price) |
| 2002 | Colors Magazine (49) – Travelling (third price) |
| 1995–2000 | MA - Art history, Russian language and literature; University of ELTE, Budapest |
Single exhibitions
| 2011 | Life is beautiful, Balint Jewish Community Center, Budapest |
| 2008 | Fragments of desire, Gallery Liget, Budapest |
| 2005 | Golden Age, Gallery Liget, Budapest |
| 2003 | Portraits at a fair, Goethe Institute, Budapest |
Group exhibitions
| 2011 | Art Market Budapest 2011, Millenáris, Budapest New York, Rio, Tokyo, Inda Gallery, Budapest Just because, a projection of photographs curated by Hatnim Lee and Lauren Duque, 2A Bar, New York Laboratory East, exhibition at V8 Gallery in Cologne Contemporary Photography from Hungary, Berlin |
| 2010 | Photonic Moments, Slovenia, Ljubljana |
| 2009 | Busted, Powerhouse Arena, New York The sunny side – apprentices of a smile, Galeria mLodzi, Lodz Present continuous I-IV, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava |
| 2008 | Contemporary Hungarian photography,Collegium Hungaricum, Vienna Present continuous, Mai Manó House of Photography, Budapest Kaunas Photo 08, Kaunas, Lithuania Contemporary Hungarian photography, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein Contemporary Hungarian photography, Hallescher Kunstverein Descubrimientos PHE08, Complejo El Águila, Madrid |
| 2007 | Krakow Month of Photography Among people, Warsaw, Fabryka Trzciny Present Continuous, Budapest Gallery |