A Curatorial Manifesto
 

This page is not merely a collection of exhibitions; it is a profound semiotic and aesthetic analysis of my artistic activity spanning from 1999 to 2025. Here, I unveil the philosophical, sociological, and psychological layers that underpin every image.
 

Over the years, my camera has evolved from a tool of mere documentation into a weapon for healing the soul and dismantling social taboos. My art ranges from the deconstruction of female identity and the rehabilitation of cancer survivors to the critique of realities generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

As an OM System Ambassador, and a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Austria (AmCham), the Vienna Economic Chamber (WKO), and the Guild of Professional Photographers, I fuse technical perfection with deep humanity.
 

The Evolution: VIPACH – Vienna Photo Art & Creative Hub
 

My career has now entered a phase of institution-building and mentorship with the founding of VIPACH. This cross-border initiative is a professional platform where visual thinking, methodology, and the structuring of knowledge become central values.
 

VIPACH is the meeting point of my own artistic vision and the perspectives of numerous renowned photographers. Building on my own exhibition trajectory, I have created a curated program that provides the VIPACH community—now an international collective—with professionally grounded opportunities to exhibit. We are not just teaching the "Banhalmi Style"; we are nurturing a high-standard artistic ecosystem.
 

Every exposure is an attempt to answer the eternal question: "Who are you? Who am I?"
 

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1. The Deconstruction of Female Identity & Body Image (2014–2015)

In this era, my goal was to demolish the myth of retouched perfection and visually rehabilitate natural beauty.
 

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1.1. Real Women (30+1 Portraits on Natural Beauty)
 

Date/Location: March 7, 2014 | Stefánia Palace, Budapest
 

• Artistic Concept: Radical Puritanism. On International Women's Day, I placed 30+1 everyday heroes before my camera, rejecting digital manipulation. The core concept was a "mask-free encounter" with the self. The "plus one" symbolized completeness and the endless nature of the process.

• Visual Language: I avoided dramatic lighting, opting for soft, diffused light that didn't lie but "caressed" reality. Laugh lines and textures appeared as life stories, not flaws. Compositions were tightened to classic busts to let the gaze dominate.
   

1.2. Those Old Flirty Times (Pin-Up Rehabilitation)
 

Date/Location: July 19, 2014 | Velodrom Millenáris, Budapest
 

• Artistic Concept: Pin-Up as an attitude, not a costume. I demonstrated that healthy erotica and playful femininity are not dependent on age or physique. The transformation with the Heaven In Style team didn't mask but liberated inner energies.

• Visual Language: Dynamism and saturated colors. In contrast to the static nature of the previous series, movement and liberated body language took center stage. Harder, high-contrast lighting evoked the visual codes of vintage American advertising.
   

1.3. Hungarian Women in New York (Urban Identity)
 

Date/Location: December 12, 2014 | Hungarian House, New York (USA)
 

• Artistic Concept: A love letter to the city and the connection of Hungarian women within it. Under the motto "The world doesn't belong only to 20-year-olds," I showcased the dominance of women over 30 in the world's capital. These were not tourist photos but emotional maps; each model chose her favorite location.

• Visual Language: Cinematic street portraiture. Iconic backgrounds (Central Park, yellow cabs) blurred by bokeh served only as frames; the sharp focus remained on the human. Dramatic natural light highlighted that my subjects were not guests, but conquerors of this environment.
   

1.4. 50 Shades of Woman (The Emotional Spectrum)
 

Date/Location: March 6, 2015 | Stefánia Palace, Budapest
 

• Artistic Concept: Not erotica, but emotional diversity. Experimentally blending spontaneous moments with staged scenes, reflecting the duality of women's societal roles (reality vs. expectation).

• Visual Language: Intentional visual chaos. Deeply introverted, dark-toned portraits (sorrow/solitude) alternated with loud, dynamic images. Focus lay on micro-expressions: a clenched fist often spoke louder than the face.
  
   

2. Depths: Intimacy, History, and Trauma (2016–2018)

My art turned from the surface toward deep psychological processes and historical memory.

 

2.1. I Became a Father! (Masculine Vulnerability)
 

Date/Location: May 7, 2016 | Bálna (The Whale), Budapest
 

• Artistic Concept: Dismantling stereotypes of masculinity. Presenting the sacred, intimate bond between father and child, where even the strongest man melts. The exhibition turned the visitor into a voyeur in a private sphere.

• Visual Language: Monochrome (Black & White) reduction. Excluding color shifted the emphasis to form, skin texture, and touch. Macro-close crops served to heighten intimacy.
   

2.2. Milestones '56 (Historical Trauma & Resilience)
 

Date/Location: October 22, 2016 | Hungarian House, New York
 

• Artistic Concept: Homage and documentation. Giving a face to statistics: a visual imprint of the trauma and successful integration of 1956 emigrants. Including personal objects (diptych style) built a bridge between past and present.

• Visual Language: Dignified documentary style. Dramatic lighting highlighted the furrows of faces as imprints of history. The gazes were open and direct; the images radiated the power of survival, not victimhood.
   

2.3. Awakening – The New Beginning! (Oncological Rehabilitation)
 

Date/Location: 2017–2018 | Budapest, Noszvaj, Veszprém
 

• Artistic Concept: The search for "beauty beyond form" in women battling gynecological cancer. Photography as therapy: accepting the body post-surgery. The message was life-affirming: cancer is just a station, not the terminus. The works were immortalized in a book.

• Visual Language: Subtle nudes where scars were not shocking elements but badges of survival. Lighting rendered bodies statuesque, while black-and-white technique elevated the subject from biological reality to the aesthetic sphere.
   

2.4. Interdisciplinary Projects (2017–2018)
 

• 2.4.1. Snippets (Szösszenetek): Visual poetry with the Vincent & Vincent duo. Images moving on the border of expressionism and surrealism.
   

• 2.4.2. Contemporary Artists of Pest County: Synthesis of local and global identity (NYC images representing Gödöllő).
   

• 2.4.3. The World of Women: Rebellion against the compulsion to conform; portraying menopause without taboos. (Co-author: Miklós Vámos).
   

• 2.4.4. Ballerina Project (New York): The struggle between technique and emotion. Capturing dynamic poses with modern and ballet dancers across Long Island, proving that movement is empty without heart.

 

3. Digital Horizons & Generative Art (2021–2023)

The age of technological singularity. The dialogue between human creator and algorithm took center stage.
 

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3.1. The Frame – 20th Anniversary
 

Date/Location: August 2021 | Rege Gallery, Tihany
 

• Artistic Concept: Digital display (Samsung The Frame) allowed the full spectrum of 20 years to flow in a narrative. Redefining the "frame" as a contextual concept. I established Hungary's first digital gallery at the iconic Rege Confectionery.
   

3.2. You Can Be Too... (Ballet as Philosophy & Career Guidance)
 

Date/Location: August 8, 2021 | Rege Gallery, Tihany
 

• Artistic Concept: Focusing on the future generation. In collaboration with the Hungarian National Ballet Institute, I documented "the cost of perfection." Moving beyond performance glitter to capture the process of "becoming." A sociological tool for career guidance, showing the ruthless discipline behind the art.

• Visual Language: Reportage meeting Fine Art. Sweat, tense muscles, and tired gazes dominated over stage smiles. Mirror reflections symbolized multiplied self-examination.
   

3.3. The False Faces of Reality (Digital Illusions & Media Ethics)
 

Date/Location: August 2, 2023 | Rege Gallery, Tihany
 

• Artistic Concept: Provocation and education. As an AI Artist, I highlighted the lack of media literacy. The images were perfect but deceitful—aiming to awaken the viewer's critical thinking ("Do you believe your eyes?").

• Visual Language: Hyper-realistic, confusingly perfect portraits with no biological subject. A visual manifestation of the simulacrum.
  
   

4. Return to the Body: Sacredness & Touch (2024–2025)
As a counterpole to digital alienation, I turned towards flesh-and-blood reality, the healing power of touch, and sacred sexuality.
 

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4.1. Touch Vienna & Touch Munich (The Sacredness of Tantra)
 

Date/Location: 2024 (Vienna & Munich) | Bewusst Sein Im Fokus / Spiritual Touch
 

• Artistic Concept: Fighting the desacralization of sexuality. Presenting Tantra massage as holistic healing. Bringing art directly into the living space.

• Visual Language: Golden tones, candlelight atmosphere. Focus on energy flow, hands, and liberated faces rather than geniality. Images radiating trust and sacred calm.
   

4.2. I, The Woman (Polyphonic Identity)
 

Date/Location: July 6, 2024 | Bewusst Sein Im Fokus, Vienna

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• Artistic Concept: A key milestone in my Vienna era. Expanding focus from the individual to the collective. The concept: the definition of womanhood is open. There is no single muse, but a social mosaic. This project was the artistic antechamber to VIPACH community building.

• Visual Language: Variations on a theme. While technical settings provided a unified frame, the subjects' distinct postures and radiance created a cumulative effect: the thousand faces of the 21st-century woman.
   

4.3. Femme Fatale – The Fulfillment
 

Date/Location: March 2, 2025 | CITYgalleryVIENNA, Vienna
 

• Artistic Concept: A joint project with Eszter Barabás and Hajnalka Huszár. The duality of femininity: lyrical softness synthesized with raw, primal power. Democratizing the "Femme Fatale" archetype.
   

4.4. Different/Image/Different (Phenomenology of Illness)
 

Date/Location: 2025 | Veszprém
 

• Artistic Concept: Reflection on Zsófia Szele's poetry. Visualizing the weight of chronic illness and caregiving. A shift in perspective: resilience and love instead of fear.