To get Her FOREVER
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Dates2015 - 2021
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Author
- Topics Social Issues, Contemporary Issues, Documentary
- Location Indonesia, Indonesia
Among the still-living, maternal-centered societies, the most populous ethnicity is the Indonesian Minangkabau. I have signed a lifelong contract with one of Them on 16 July 2016.
Initially, I wanted to present an unknown matriarchal society, which I began to recognize through my wife. I was intrigued by how it could have remained undocumented and why the mainstream media never picked it up. The answer is simple: the most populous matriarchy in the world is Muslim!
As a photographer, it was motivating enough to immerse myself in this subject, already as a part of it. So I photograph the life of my wife and myself as a kind of diary, while I deal with my own changes, through questions such as, what it means to be Muslim, how my life has changed being a husband, and how we are preparing for having children, and so on.
/While preparing my series, I am interested in the chances and opportunities of a Muslim family in today’s Hungary, and at the same time, the difficulties we encounter. In addition to my photos, I use the family archive and scanned versions of documents (e.g. Hungarian and Indonesian marriage certificates, protocols of our interviews with the Hungarian Immigration Office, etc.) which are key administrative elements in our lives to tell the story.
The series of photographs deals with contemporary social issues such as immigration and emigration, the start of newlyweds and the expectation of a baby; xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, Western hypocrisy, etc., all through my personal experience./
Based between the capital cities and our hometowns in Indonesia (Jakarta and Padang) and Hungary (Budapest and Sárvár), we have lost the true meaning of home, but at the same time we have started creating one. The project stores the photos from our transition period (2015-2021.), where faith, identity, habits, and expectations challenged us to set our own future goals.
Just our lives TO GET HER FOREVER ©2021. Fisel Anggela and András Polgár
The work was supported by the József Pécsi Photography Grant and the Ministry of Culture and Education, Hungary in 2019.