‍

‍

Formed 47 years ago, STB Team has “fake-documented,” with great care, as well as humour and irony, the efforts it took as “artists of life” to coordinate art, and welcomed paintings, drawings, photographs, etc. made about them and presented to them by their many friends.

András Balla

‍

It is now evident that this curious company (which was based on deep and responsible friendship), proved, with a serious critique of the Kádár era, that the genre of political photography existed—that social criticism could not be eliminated. They did so in a small town where ideological norms were more stringently adhered to by the bureaucracy, while, thanks in part to irony, vigilance, suspicion could be lulled from time to time—and STB lured its adversaries (those they criticized) into the trap of irony in extremely sophisticated ways (mostly by means of overemphasis), leaving them unaware of the situation. The trio of Sipeki, Tamási and Balla also excelled in winning over those well-meaning vacillators who understood – even ex officio! – the import of their intention. STB pursued this struggle both with courage and artistic integrity—a struggle that – not incidentally – also sought to win a forum for modern Hungarian photography.

László Fábián