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Lilla Szász
1977, Budapest
Lilla Szász’s artistic interest lies in exploring how people live within closed communities shaped by external circumstances, both in Hungary and abroad. Through photography, she has documented the lives of homeless mothers, girls in juvenile institutions, and Russian Jewish WWII veterans living in New York. One of her most renowned photo series, Mama Zsolti goes to heaven, documents one year of the life of a ‘family’ of three sex workers living in Budapest. Currently, Szász is addressing the issue of HIV in Hungary: her project Positive, which captures the memories of a retired teacher living with HIV, was exhibited at the Off Biennale in 2015. From 2018 to 2021, Szász lived in Portugal. During this time she examined various local social issues: the experiences of the so called ‘retornados’ (Greetings from my New Home), the situation of women under the Salazar dictatorship (Imprisoned Freedoms), and the appearance and self-expression of young people in Lisbon (#lisbonstreetfashion).
Lilla Szász has worked as a lecturer at the Kontakt Photography Masterclasses and the Mosoly Foundation’s photography course. As a volunteer, she taught photography at the Józan Babák organization. Between 2013 and 2014, she lectured at the IBS Art Management program. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions both in Hungary and internationally, and her photographs can be found in private, corporate and museum collections.
