I still remember WWII as a small child in Budapest, Hungary -- buildings exploding next door, soldiers running in the streets with machine guns -- killing each other -- and my family starving in our big house when I was 3 and 4 years old. We escaped from Hungary when I was 5, stopped off in Brussels for a year and finally settled in the United States. There I learned English, my 4th language by age 6 (after Hungarian, French and Flemish).
A couple of years later I received my first camera for Christmas when I was 8 years old. I have loved to make and capture images ever since then. And since my first Exhibition in 1975 there have been several other careers and businesses, yet photography was a constant love throughout my life. I spent part of the 60’s, the 70’s and into the 80’s as a Professional Photographer. My photographic studies and work have been in every area of Image-Making : Fine-Art, Photojournalism, Portrait, Animals, Tabletop Product, Aerial, Advertising, Studio, Fashion, Travel, Wedding, Magazine & Book Illustration and Street Photography. The collected work now consists of an estimated 150,000 Images, and probably a lot more since I began to (reluctantly) use Digital Cameras as well as Analog. Instead of a roll of 24 or 36 film images, now I would blast through 100-250- even 500 photos in no time! Around 2008 I stepped back into Exhibiting and Publishing my work in a committed way.
I was chief editor/photographer of a weekly newspaper in the early 70’s and later started my own Advertising/ P.R. Firm, Andrew Nevai Advertising. In those years I taught a number of Classes in Polaroid Photography, a Workshop Series called "How to Advertise” and later also taught at the Tarrytown School for Entrepreneurs. "The Joy of Seeing” Workshop was designed and presented to all visual artists. In "The Joy of Seeing” they get to be encouraged and then to experience the paradigm shift when one first creates a connection with their subject before taking the picture, thus making the difference between the work of a dilletante and the work of a Fine Artist! And even though I was Teaching I had never stopped learning, to this day. I attended Workshops, Photo-Retreats, Trips and all manner of Learnings with a great variety of Teachers over 20 year’s time. Through all my years of photography just a few of my major Teachers and influences were : At Apeiron Photo Institute - Aaron Siskind: Abstract and Fine Art; Georg Tice: Platinum Paper Printing. At the University of Tennessee : Photojournalism with Professor Cliff Edom. There were numerous other important teachers, schools and classes throughout the 70’s and 80’s. In 1973, at The School of Visual Arts in New York, I studied with Harold Krieger. Harold was among the most successful advertising photographers of the time. He taught us how and where to place attention so that an ad "communicates” visually, powerfully and instantly.
In the 60’s I was inspired by Photographer-Friends: Paul Caponigro, Barry Kaplan, Jim Sheridan and Frank Brescia. My long-time friend, Elliott Landy, the official 1968 Woodstock Festival Photographer, has assisted over the years both technically and with Artistic Inspiration. Many many other great Photographers have inspired me deeply and I can mention only a few : Henri Cartier Bresson, André Kertész, Brassai, Jaques-Henri Lartigue, Andreas Gursky, Bill Brandt, Ralph Gibson…
Exhibitions/Shows
1966 - Hotel Chelsea, New York - "Dimensions"
1967 - Antwerp, Belgium - "USA LIFE”
1967 - Marrakesh, Morocco - "World Travels”
1975 - Fair Gallery, New York "Strivings"
1977 - Big Island Gallery, New York - "The Black Dirt Show”
1998 - Bellingham, Washington - "The Polaroid Show" (Group Show)
2008 - Sedona, Arizona - "Life of a Painter" with Pál Breznay, Painter (Two-Man Show)
2008 - Iglo, Slovakia - "A Painter and his Photographer" with Pál Breznay, Painter
2009 - Budapest, Hungary, Fészek Klub - "Angels of water”
2010 - Paris, France, Galerie Etienne de Causans - "India-America-Europe”
2012 - Budapest, Hungary, Semmelweis University Salon – "Light Paintings”
The Future : There are several more Photography Books planned. For example, there is a treasure trove of photos from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, of which 50% are B&W and 50% Color, documenting my Family at that time : Children, Relatives, Cousins, Weddings, Celebrations, Picnics, Holidays – the usual Family stuff but through a different angle. Another book is my view of Budapest. And there is a very interesting series of Panoramic Photos which are a visually exciting collection that will make a good book. So there is all this material consisting of many tens of thousands of images to go through.
And then there are the most recent years when I have created an ever larger number of images, in some weeks shooting 500 to 2,000, thanks to the ease and huge memory capacity of Digital Cameras! Of these about 10% are good and maybe 2-3%, I feel , are excellent and worthy of Exhibition and Publication. Just in the year 2013, I had the good fortune to visit 11 countries I had never seen before : Malaysia, Thailand, China, Singapore, Ireland, Nigeria, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Israel. So all of these photographs will have to be worked through as well.
OUR LIST : Kindly leave your contact information (see 'Contact”) if you are interested in knowing about future Shows, Publications or having a „Joy of Seeing Workshop” in any location on the Globe that you chose.
Respectfully Submitted -- Andras Peter Nandor Nevai (C) 2013 Andras Nevai, All rights reserved