Porcelain and Wool by Kincső Bede

Many times, we feel like objects of certain cultural codes that are based on our origins and that we never asked for. To reconsider the approach to our birthplace without feeling stigmatized and patriotic, Kincső Bede offers a photobook.

She grew up in the Hungarian Székely minority of Transylvania, Romania and until now, in her rigorous photographic style, she always dealt with her very own family stories, the socialist heritage of a bygone era and traditional Székely motifs in order to find her place in the world. Intimate photography is a key tool in her process of identification, which allows us to experience the liveliness in her pictures. Her “mini-series”, that apply the visual contrast of the aesthetics of fashion photography and the rural environment, will scatter throughout different parts of the book and thus invite us to complete them with each other.

Introduction by József Mélyi
Essay from Tímea Urbantsok
Interview by Krisztián Gábor Török

Bio :
Kincső Bede (born in 1995) works in Budapest (HU) and Covasna (RO). She holds a Master’s in photography from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest and a Bachelor’s in film editing from Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca.
She has exhibited in several cities of Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and the US. In 2021, thanks to TOBE Gallery, she exhibits at Unseen Amsterdam and she is selected for Paris Photo fair's Curiosa sector, curated by Shoair Mavlian. In 2022, her photographs are exhibited at PhotoVogue Festival Milan. In 2023, she participates in the show “Self on Stage” in Galeria Anita Beckers Frankfurt. Anthony Vaccarello curates an exhibition for her at Saint Laurent Rive Droite, Paris and at YSL Beverly Hills LA, and on the same occasion YSL publishes her fanzine. Bede is nominated for the Esterhazy Art Award and thus exhibits in Ludwig Museum Budapest. In 2024, hECTIC bOOKs launches her first photobook, displaying her œuvre to date. In 2025, she presents her large-scale solo show in the frame of OFF-Biennale Budapest.
Her photos are regularly in the printed press, such as The Art Newspaper, Vogue China, European Photography Magazine, Another Man, Der Greif, Gup Magazine and The Steidz.

Instagram of the artist

Book photos by Ágota Mucsi