Steel-Art
Benkő Imre (Budapest, 1943-) is a Hungarian photographer, two time World Press Photo and Pulitzer Prize winner. Among his huge body of work perhaps the most iconic is the material produced between 1986-2016 in the steel plant of Ózd.
He began to work on the project after reading the news that 300 people are being fired from the rolling mill of Ózd Steelworks. At that time, the plant employed 13,000 workers.
He documented the plants surroundings and the worker’s lives even after working hours, often following them into their dwellings. After nearly a decade of work he released his first book ever called Steel Town in 1996. It caused a huge sensation among Hungarian photographers since Benkő was already 53, internationally recognised for his work.
The project earned him the scholarship of the W. Eugene Smith Foundation which made him possible to continue the work.
In 2017 he revisited the work and self released the book Acél-Mű/Steel-Art 1986-2016 which covers 30 years worth of photographs.
