LASZLO REGOS

Talk at the Opening for the exhibition Palaces of Prayer by Donna Cameron at the Angel Orensanz Center

Hungarian-born Laszlo Regos is a master visual artist. His medium of choice is photography; he specializes in a unique genre of fine arts photography: architectural photography.

The Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, New York, proudly premiered photographer Laszlo Regos’ eloquent studies of the interiors, exteriors and details of beautiful historic synagogues from around the world. This show is aptly called “Palaces of Prayer”.

The Orensanz Center itself is a historic synagogue, a neo-gothic landmark, designed in 1849 by Berlin architect Alexander Seltzer. The structure is inspired by the cathedral of Cologne, Germany; the architectural philosophy is informed by the German romantic movement, also embraced by Heinrich Heine and Beethoven. It is believed to be the oldest synagogue in New York, old enough to have witnessed the birth of the Jewish reform movement in America.

In 1986, when Sculptor Angel Orensanz bought this then dilapidated and run down structure, he aspired not only to make it his studio, but to make it once again a n advocate of education and culture in New York. In so many ways, it is a fitting environment for this exhibit, and likewise, this sacred, ephemeral space is represented in the images of this exhibition.

Technically, in the photo business, we refer to the images you see in “Palaces of Prayer” as ‘Large Format Color Photography’. Some are digitally made, like the large banners which drape the show’s entryway on the first level, however, most are traditionally generated. The word ‘format’ here refers to the size of the negative on which Laszlo is recording his images. These images are created from color sheet negatives 4” x 5” in size, also known as 4x5s, or sheet negatives. From a contemporary, professional viewpoint, an astounding fact about these images is that they are pre-isualized, lit and composed directly on the 4”x5” color negative in a Sinar view camera, processed, then printed on 16”x20”, 20”x24”, and so on, fine art photo paper with minimal adjustments in the darkroom.

In other words, he truly sees these structures. Laszlo visits them, has a vision of them in his mind’s eye, and then projects that vision directly to the color negative. With his expert knowledge and by skillful use of the photographic chemistry and medium he makes his mark. Yes, photography, like film, is an art dependent upon the phenomenon of projection: in film on the screen, in photography on the paper or material of choice. In this digital age, when just about everything is ‘knocked off’, ‘zoomed off’, brought into a digital environment to be reworked and “fixed up” or “altered” Regos’ care and precision stands out. He is one artist who takes the time to hand work his craft from the initial stage of his imaging process. The images are made with great care. In the old-fashioned sense, yet in a contemporary manner, he is a master who has understood, and truly, holistically projected. How fortunate we to behold these pictures, and to share his visions and his dream.

Laszlo told me that he shoots with professional Fuji sheet film and prints on professional Kodak fiber paper. He says, “Although I am trying to be a patriot and most of the other films I am using is Kodak, the Fuji NPL (tungsten) and NPS(daylight) professional negative films have an unusual feature. Most color film on the market renders fluorescent lights green on film. The reason for that is a missing spectral range at the light source.… With the introduction of a forth color sensitive layer, Fuji solved the problem, and I am shooting most mixed light situations without extra filtration…”

He has great stories about setting up his shots and having Lady Luck step in to complete these pictures. Yet, while I do believe in luck and good luck certainly is very important to me, I also happen to know that we make our luck, and Laszlo, with these images has surely made his.

So who is Laszlo Regos, one might say, if one picked up such a book.

Laszlo Regos was born in Hungary and moved to the United States in 1979 to seek political and artistic freedom. In just six years he found his niche, developing his special voice in the small arts field of architectural and interior photography. He also started and continues to run his own photo business; he serves professionals and amateurs alikeat his Spectrum photo lab in Berkeley, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where he now resides.

As a child in Hungary, Laszlo dreamed of mastering photography. He was lured to the latent image by his father, an amateur photographer. His father had set up a makeshift darkroom in a small bathroom of their Budapest apartment. There Laszlo spent hours watching his father work, at what he could only think as light ‘magic’. In that same bathroom photo lab, Laszlo the boy later taught himself to print his own color photos by a process which took about an hour per print, a tedious task, and so he dreamed of a faster, more advanced technology.

It follows then, that as a young man, he earned his Masters Degree in Photo Chemistry from the Technical University of Budapest. He went to work for a major manufacturer of photo materials-much like our own Kodak- in Eastern Europe, a company called “Forte Photochemical Industries”. He rose quickly to a managerial post. But his nagging interior artistic voice drove him toward his true dream: to become an artist-photographer. As we now witness, his dream has become a reality.

Congratulations Laszlo Regos, on your fine work and your great contribution to the world community!

Before I saw your pictures I had no idea that these buildings existed. Their awesome history surprises us all. Thanks to your hard work, I now understand that they are architectural jewels, significant cultural monuments. Their importance extends to both Jews and non-Jews alike.

Despite their great diversity, in structure, in location, of material, in design, of color palette and forms, they are lovely symbols of life, eternal modulated spaces which unify in the mind’s eye to produce a singular presence, a universal theme.

When viewing these pictures, I myself am made to look with hope to the future. There is most certainly, in each of us, the potential to communicate on a most high trend of thought. We can, individually, together, work and live harmoniously in this world, and in our time.

-Donna Cameron




Donna Cameron is a Brooklyn, NY based filmmaker, artist, journalist and educator. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY and her films and videos are distributed by the MoMA Circulating Film and Video Library NY, since 1990 and may be accessed on the premises of the MoMA, through the MoMA Film Study Center by appointment. She is an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts since 1993.