Gypsy Hill
by Béla Váradi
It has been more than 20 years since I left the East-Hungarian gypsy settlement where I grew up. Poverty can be harsh but living as a Roma in rural Hungary is even harsher. My parents and my siblings were not so lucky as me and they could not escape fate. They have tried to have a better life but the gravity of the gypsy hill was always stronger. Hundreds of thousands of Roma in Hungary are struggling with the gravity of poverty and discrimination.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
For decades Béla Váradi has been trying to integrate his two main interests; creating visual art and represent the life and interest of Roma people in Hungary. As a young adult, starting a career in journalism helped him to find an accommodating platform for his passion for visual and social representation. He was one of the founding members of Europe’s first Roma radio, RadioC. After working for various radio stations and online newspapers, he started working for television as a news reporter and broadcaster. Alongside his journalist job, he created a documentary mini-series which won the grand prize at the Faces of Poverty Film Festival in 2010.
As the far-right Orban government started its crackdown on the public broadcaster, it became increasingly hard to maintain his editorial freedom. He resigned in 2011 and moved to the UK. Starting life in a new country forced him to reconsider how he could create socially conscious visual art. He started educating himself in photography and after years of experimenting, he secured freelance positions in photo studios in London. In his free time, he could return to create photo-documentary series. He started various projects about immigration, Roma journalism, and minority representations. His recent work about a BLM protest in London was nominated in the professional photojournalism category at the Fine Art Photography Award 2021 and has been published in various magazines.