mother michael goes to heaven

2008-2010

These pictures document the lives of three close friends—Michael, Monica, and Alexander—within the closed world of sex work. Captured between 2008 and early 2010, the series unfolds entirely within the flat they shared, a space that served at once as their workplace, home, and emotional battleground. At the center of the story is the complex, tragic relationship between Michael and Alexander. Michael’s suicide in February 2010, though not directly linked to prostitution, reflects the emotional scars of unrequited love and a life marked by abandonment and trauma. Their story raises deeply human questions about love, dependency, and emotional resilience—issues that extend far beyond their community. What these images ultimately revealed to me is that emotional pain and the search for connection are always particular, shaped by individual lives and circumstances.

My self-published book, Mother Michael Goes to Heaven (2011), is >> available to purchase <<

main exhibitions:

2023: UNVEILING, Liget Gallery, Budapest, Hungary (curator: Veronika Molnár)
2019: Red Umbrella Struggles, Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art, Oldenbourg, Germany (curator: Edit Molnár)
2018: Women in 3 Acts (Paz Errázuriz, Gluklya, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Ditte Lyngkaer Pedersen, Maya Schweizer, Lilla Szász), Gallery INDA, Budapest, (curator: Kati Simon)
2018: The Family of No Man (Group exhibition featuring 494 female and inter-gender artists), Arles Photo Festival, Cosmos Arles Books (curator: Natasha Christia)
2018: Women in 3 Acts (Paz Errázuriz, Gluklya, Ditte Lyngkaer Pedersen, Maya Schweizer, Katarina Šoškić, Lilla Szász), Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg, (curator: Kati Simon)
2017: The Way We See. An Overview of Hungarian Photography, National Museum in Warsaw (curator: Gabriella Csizek)
2013: Mother Michael Goes to Heaven, Gallery Liget, Budapest (solo exhibition)
2012: Photo Espana – From Here: a group exhibition with Richard Avedon, Richard Billingham and Paz Errazuriz– Museo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Photo Espana, 2012 – The exhibition won the Prize of the audience (El Premio del Publico, PHE 2012) (curator: Gerardo Mosquera)