Gabor Szilasi was awarded the prestigious Prix du Québec on November 6th 2009 “in recognition of his exceptional body of work spanning the past 50 years.” More information about this award can be found on the website of Concordia University here.
From November 15-25 1956, Szilasi used his camera to document the Hungarian Revolution. Escaping from Hungary in 1957, Szilasi arrived in Halifax and later settled in Montréal in 1959. Employed by the Office du film du Québec, Szilasi worked on photography assignments in Montreal as well as in rural regions of Québec to document the province, particularly the rural regions. From 1979 to 1995, Szilasi was a photography teacher at Concordia University in Montréal.
A large part of his work is a continuing documentation of rural life in Québec–a document that includes landscapes, architecture, portraits and an accumulation of those significant details that help to sum up a manner of living. His first trip back to Hungary since his emigration marked the beginning of numerous visits where he would photograph family friends and various architectural sites-a shift in his style, a document to his belief that things have to be documented in the present, as everything is changing and is in eternal flux.
Stairs, Lörinc Pap tér (Square)
Mme Tremblay, Charlevoix QC 1970
Irina Krausz, Montreal, 1993
Gabor Szilasi
More info on Gabor Szilasi: http://art-history.concordia.ca