A Friendship Beyond Generations by Pál Balázs

Today, we’re featuring a moving photo essay from film photographer Pál Balázs. Scroll below to view the images and read more about the unlikely friendship between Pál and 97-year-old Dr. Körmendi…

Analog cameras and films used: Mamiya C330 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay), Leica M3 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay) | Kodak Gold 200 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Vision 500T (Find on eBay), Fomapan 400 (Find on Amazon)

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A Friendship Beyond Generations

By Pál Balázs

About five years ago, I saw a YouTube video about a 97-year-old doctor, a Holocaust survivor who was still actively practicing even during the COVID-19 pandemic. I called him up, explaining that I wanted to create a photo series of him for a competition. At the time, I had no idea it would be the start of such an extraordinary friendship, despite the more than 80-year age gap between us.

He was a force of nature; even at 98, he was still behind the wheel, once driving himself all the way to Vienna, a 300km trip from Budapest. We shared so many experiences together. Because his family lives abroad, I was the one who would take him to the cemetery to visit the graves of his wife and parents during those final years when he could no longer drive. We went to dinners with his retired friends, but the moment I felt the most pride was when I was invited to give a speech at his 100th birthday celebration.

In the end, I never submitted that photo series to any competition. Instead, I found myself visiting his office more and more just to talk. I still took a few frames occasionally, and, with his permission, I began recording our conversations with the intent of one day writing a book about him. I never ended up doing that either, but fortunately, he did! His autobiography was published last year, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

It is one of the greatest honors of my life that he mentions our friendship in those pages.

I don’t want to get too sentimental (but I’m going to anyway). I may not have won any awards or published a book, but I gained something far more valuable: a true friend, almost a surrogate grandfather.

Thank you for everything, Doctor. I truly believe that one day, we will pick up our conversation exactly where we left off.

His name was Dr. István Körmendi.

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