The honor of being a judge

In these 12 years of photography, I’ve reached places I never imagined at the beginning: I’ve created a successful business that I can live off, made many people happy through the services I’ve provided, through the photos I’ve taken, forged many friendships, met my wife, and photographed in many beautiful places in Romania and in many other countries.

Besides these, being passionate about event photography, I’ve participated in several contests where I’ve had many successes. From weekly selections at national level to Fearless Awards, from Reportage Awards to even being named Hungarian Photographer of the Year, I’ve tasted a bit of everything, and all of these has made me a more motivated, happier, fulfilled person, and a better photographer.

As with any photographer or service provider, the first thing is to do a good job and to have satisfied, happy clients, both through the delivered material and through my communicationbehavior.

As a photography enthusiast, I went even further and tried to satisfy not only my clients but also renowned photographers in the field who judged various contests. The fact that my photos have been awarded in various places by different people from the photography world, whom I admire, brought immense joy to my soul.

But the pinnacle of this career is certainly the fact that I’ve been chosen to be a judge in every contest I’ve participated in. Twelve years ago, I didn’t even dream of reaching this point. I was just a shy boy who fell in love with the world of photography, a boy who found a way to socialize better with people, who found a passion where he began to be appreciated.

I didn’t even dream of reaching this point when I received my first award in Budapest in 2017.

Many other awards followed, and 4 years later, in 2021, I was chosen for the first time to be a judge in Romania, and then on international level at This is Reportage. And this year, in July, I had the honor of being a judge at perhaps the most important and well-known event photography contest, the Fearless Photographers Awards. At first, I couldn’t believe it when I received the invitation: Me, judging the photos of hundreds of talented photographers from around the world. It was a beautiful experience, one where I strove to analyze and score as good as possible because the honor of being a judge also comes with great responsibility. Both here and at other contests, it was extremely difficult to decide among so many exceptional photos, from many perspectives, which one is better.

Obviously, photography is subjective, and what one person appreciates, another might not, but there are many elements that needs to be considered: light, composition, the circumstances in which it was photographed, the moment, the originality, the editing…

It is and it will always be an honor to be a judge at any contest in the field because as a participant, you can always enter, obviously, it would be even better to have shots that have a chance of winning, but you can participate anytime at any contest. But being chosen as a judge is something special that doesn’t happen to just anyone at any time. You’re chosen by the organizers because your work is appreciated, and they want you to be part of the group of people who decide what deserves to be awarded and what doesn’t at a contest. I never forget how eagerly I was waiting, just a few years ago, to see the scores I’d receive from the photographers I admired so much and who were the judges. And now, I’ve become one of those people whom I once looked up to, waiting for their scores and constructive criticism.

Soon I will be among the judges again because, in recent days, I was asked if I’d accept to be part of the jury at the Hungarian Photographer of the Year Contest, the contest I won last year. I didn’t hesitate, and of course, I accepted to be a judge because as a photographer, you can enter any contest at any time, but being a judge is a unique opportunity that doesn’t come around just anytime.