One of the most important figures in twentieth-century Hungarian photography is Károly Hemző, who died three years ago (1928-2012). His retrospective exhibition can be seen at the Hungarian National Museum starting on 4 December 2015 onwards. The exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of Hemző's work from recent decades.

Hemző was beloved by millions as a gastro photographer however, originally he was a sports and city photographer, also a lyrical portrayal of landscape and the artist who renewed equestrian images asd well. The 200 photos shown on 700 m2 are prints from vintage photo-prints and enlargements made from the original negatives, largely in black and white.

The first part of the exhibition consists of works by Hemző as a photographer at the beginning of his career with Honvéd Sport Club (Army Sport Club In photographic circles it is commonly believed that those who are able to shoot high standard sports photos can capture just about anything. Hemző's work as a correspondent, artist photographer and later his work in the field of applied arts is proof of that. He took fantastic photos of members of the Golden Team - and many players in the golden age of Hungarian sport. To show this, the imprint of two decades' work is shown in the next section, when he was not only a versatile artist but also worked as an editor and was an active participant in shaping Hungarian photography's direction for the profession.

Hemző kept taking photos of Budapest for over sixty years, with a unique approach. In good sense it was his mania to capture in every season, time of day, from a number of angels of and style bridges over the Danube, particularly the Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle. Of the picturesque areas nearby the capital, perhaps the Danube Bend and Szentendre were Hemző's favourite. However, he loved the Balaton region with its beauty and busy life and also places that had to do with horses, such as Hortobágy, Apajpuszta and Bugac.  Although formally he did not teach, still he raised generations of photographers. The third part of the exhibition is witness to that in which students, peers, or photographers awarded by the Hemző Károly Foundation tell about the artist (e.g..Péter Korniss, András Bánkuti, Tamás Féner, András Hajdú D., Éva Keleti, Simon Móricz-Sabján).

Boh in his life's work and the exhibition, equestrian images are to occupy the main place: "In my life and my destiny there are two things in common: horses and women" - he said himself in an interview. Of all Hungarian photographers, perhaps the most beautiful photos about the life of horses were published Hemző. He had several books and exhibitions about his horses. The final section is about an exciting part of his work: gastro photography. These photos were published in his partner and co-author Mari Lajos's cookbooks: while generations learned to cook from these books admiring photos by Hemző.

The old masters worked in the security of his home studio until his death. he did not only took great food photos, but also photographed artistic still-lifes, genre pictures and fine resigned intimate self-portraits, which are now shown to the public for the first time. In reality, of all the photos exhibited, almost half is now being presented to the public for the first time.

With hundreds of pictures, short films in which his contemporaries talk about him, dozens of documentaries and with the help of his installations, we do not only intend to deal with Hemző as a photo artist but also the past sixty years with news reels, interviews, discussions with his partner in life and work, Mari Lajos.