Hungary flag
Silver 2023 Book / Documentary

Even The Sparrow Has Found A Home

  • Photographer
    Thomas Szalay
  • Prize
    Silver in Book / Documentary

This memoir is a recollection of a long-term project I started in 1991 about Romanian Orphans. In 2015, I returned to Romania and met up with the little boy Izidor whom I initially photographed in 1991. He is a grown man now, and an advocate for orphans. I tell his story and the story of more orphans I helped get out of that hell hole they called a hospital. You have to understand the history of Romania and Decree 770 to get the full picture of why there were so many orphans.

I am a man of sorrow and yet a man of awe. The awe often comes from images I have made and the photo essays I have done. But mostly my AWE comes from grandkids, kids, nature and life lived. The sorrow stems from why I photograph. It's a way to communicate with my dead father, a native-born Hungarian whom I don't remember. He died when I was ten. My dead mother never saw me achieve success as an adult. To my twin who died seeking a better life outside his addiction to drugs. So I photograph, them to tell them stories. To connect with humanity and to give time to others in need and in despair.

BIFA
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.