Hittérítés fényképeken – távoli kultúrák másodkézből. Missziós fotográfiák az európai befogadó szemével
Proselytizing in Photographs – Far-off Cultures at Second Hand: Photography through the Eyes of the European Beholders

Summary/Abstract: The study presents and interprets two collections of Hungarian missionary photographs – photographs in the Ethnological Archives of the Hungarian Museum of Ethnography, and the photography bequest kept in the archives of the Hungarian Province of the Society of Jesus – in comparison with similar examples from other countries. The nearly six hundred photos in the Museum of Ethnography arrived in the country in 1896 from various missionaries operating across the world, responding to the call of Kispest vicar, Antal Ribényi. This is currently the oldest and largest known missionary photography collection in the country. The Jesuit collection was created 20-30 years later, between the two world wars. It is made up of photographs taken at the Hungarian Jesuit mission in Taming, and photographic materials created and used for the promotion of the missions, primarily associated with the Catholic Missions (Katolikus Missziók)magazine published by the order. Regarding the format and use, this collection– similarly to missionary photography elsewhere – comprises three basic groups of images: missionaries’ photo albums, projection slides for presentations, and images printed in various missionary publications. The study follows this tri- partite division, focusing on the subject matter of the images, as well as their composition, their visually conveyed messages, and their changes across time. It concludes that the photography associated with missionary activities and use of images was consciously designed as a communication tool to be used in an intercultural space, and it served multiple aims for various target groups.

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