This is how photographer Ádám Urbán writes about the experience: 

"The Aszód Juvenile Detention Center is a special place: living here temporarily is both a punishment and an indispensable help for the inmates. Once you have visited there, you will surely not forget – I know it from my own first-hand experience.

As a photographer, I spent some time inside the last year with the guys living there; most of them were there for theft, robbery or some other kind of crime. I got a peek into how their closed community, which rejects all outsiders, operates.

At first, they did not accept me either but then they got used to my presence; they started to like me and let me in their inner circle. It says a lot that even this way I could only take my first pictures after a month or so; until then, I walked among them without my camera.

The staff shortly recognized my well-intentioned approach: I received a key that opened all doors, and I was free to move around in the institution. While I was inside, I encountered some tense situations, some of which I managed to sort out with the help of my camera.

I had several positive experiences as well – they gave me lots of gifts, which they themselves made for me. At the same time, I learned some things about them, which the outside world would not know.

Some of the inmates are very talented: they wrote poetry, sang very well, or were great at dancing. These experiences and pieces of information are not only recorded in the final photographs, but they are also permanently imprinted in me."

Opening hours: Every day 11 am – 7 pm. Closed on public holidays.

Venue: 
Capa Center
1065 Budapest, Nagymező u. 8.