Open Theme nominee

The “A pond of unconscious” is an analog photographic series depicting different water creatures. The photographs have been heavily modified in the darkroom with different chemical and physical techniques.
The monochrome domain, the analog photographic methods, the different handcrafting techniques and the manual manipulations are all defining elements. Like the alchemist in her den, I abstract reality. In this series I enlarged and magically transformed sea creatures into demonic totems.
The models I have found in zoos, museums, markets and sometimes on the kitchen counter. Photographing them was only the initial step, the real creative work happened in my darkroom. Through numerous steps I have pealed off the realistic elements of these animals and washed away their naturalistic traits. Play and chance are essential in my personal practice, as opposed to the controlled environment in my commissioned printing work. I am continuously pushing the boundaries of traditional silver gelatin printing.
While fishing for the secrets of the Deep in the amber light, these mythological, demonic totems are emerging from my darkroom trays, swimming into the light, whispering to the unconscious. Through this creative voyage I explore the hidden, spiritual world that humanity tries to comprehend for thousands of years.

Csilla Szabó is a Berlin-based Hungarian fine-art photographer and b&w analog printer.

…following patterns and forms that the mysterious phenomenon of light inevitably draws…


After studying photography in Budapest, she moved to Berlin where she became the apprentice of fine-arts photographer Jeff Cowen, a position she held for many years. While there, she was trained in the art of traditional silver black-and-white printing of large-format photographs on a masterful level, including numerous alternative processes.
She then became a professional printer; over the past years she has printed exhibitions for international artists such as Antanas Sutkus and Arja Hyytiainen. She also conducts printing and portfolio workshops in her darkroom in Berlin, and she was a guest lecturer in the Neue Schule für Fotografie in Berlin.
Parallel to her commissioned printing works, she’s been diligently creating her own photographic works of art. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and her works can be found in different art collections, such as that of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Budapest and private collections in New York, Paris, Hong-Kong, Berlin, and Budapest.