Your name
Domonkos Varga
Place of birth
Budapest, Hungary
Place where you live now
Budapest, Hungary
3 words to describe you
critical, metaphoric, theoretic
Why do you take pictures?
To translate my perception of the world into something meaningful
Where do you get your inspiration?
Books, research-papers, movies, besides the power structures and contemporary issues around us
Who are your influences?
It's often changing in correlation with the topics that interest me. Currently, I can surely consider Torbjørn Rødland, Daniel Shea, Thomas Struth, Noemie Goudal - as well as - Byung-Chul Han, Yuval Noah Harari, Michel Houellebecq.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
Mostly those influential social phenomena that conquer my generation's (sub)consciousness. Often, it all starts from the origins of my anxiety. Therefore my artistic practice replaces the role of therapy. 
What impact would you like your art to have?
I want to evoke a reaction from the viewer. Therefore, I prefer my work to be associative and raise debates/conversations on each conceptual theme I'm exploring
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Probably any installation art that's relatable to space and is site-specific. I just love when I feel I'm a part of the exploration. Also, those pieces that I find utterly instinctive.
Is there anything you want to add?
Recently I fell in love with this quote, so I'll just leave it here: "In stamping photography with the patent of realism, society does nothing but confirm itself in the tautological certainty that an image of reality that conforms to its own representation of objectivity is truly objective." - Pierre Bourdieu 

Seeing Through Smoke and Mirrors
Project statement

In his series, Seeing Through Smoke and Mirrors, Domonkos Varga visually deconstructs the idea of truth in a symbolic narrative.
Through his ambiguous images, he questions the adequacy of fundamental truth. He decontextualizes landscapes, gestures, and poses in metaphoric photographs to illustrate the nihilistic situation of our uncertain social milieu. The title refers to the techniques used by illusionists in the 19th century. In a figurative sense, 'smoke and mirrors' could imply a condition where a more speculative and conspirative cognition challenges the rationalized knowledge of the Western culture.

See more by Domonkos Varga in A Visual Dialogue in issue #4 and in collab:co-op in issue #9

domonkos varga
@vargadom