Monochrome studio portrait of a man with a beard and hair tied in a bun, looking downward against a plain background.

Dávid Hosszú

I am a Hungarian photographer based in Switzerland. For my commissioned work, I primarily focus on portraits and events. In my personal, long-term projects, portraiture and documenting people are closest to my heart. I am drawn to themes like the search for identity, the relationship between people and their environment, and complex human connections that span across time, generations, and shared pasts. As a creator, I also love experimenting with analogue photography, using everything from simple point-and-shoot cameras and medium format to 4x5 large format sheet film.

01 · Person

Not only the
photographer.

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a photographer. I drew a lot, then I studied construction, and learned to think in lines and plans before a camera, passed down by my brother slowly changed the direction of my life.

Photography followed me from Hungary to Switzerland, then back to school across countries, and eventually led me toward portrait photography. Somewhere along the way, it became more than just taking pictures. It became a way to connect with people, to gain confidence, and to find my own voice.

02 · Facts

Biography

Born
1992 · Hungary
Based
Switzerland · since 2015
Early training
Vocational training in construction · 2013
Photography
Professional qualification in photography · 2022
Working languages
Hungarian · English · German

04 · Photographing

How I work


Planning

Here is how I plan our photoshoot to make sure the final results are exactly what you dreamed of.

Planning is a massive part of my job because I like to show up to every single shoot with a crystal-clear vision. First, I need to fully understand the task at hand. I always check out the location beforehand and ask the model for a few reference photos or just simple, unfiltered selfies. I also love to see their previous photos and check what kind of vibe they usually like to share on social media.

Of course, our initial chat, your ideas, and your preferences are my main guidelines when planning our time together. This preparation phase is all about creating mood boards and picking the right gear. It also gives me time to source any new tools or accessories we might need, making sure absolutely nothing gets left behind on the big day.

Listening before directing

Our work together doesn’t start with clicking the shutter. It starts with me and you, finding our shared rhythm.

For me, a photoshoot never starts with just pulling out the camera and snapping away. I like to take a moment to settle in, connect with the space, and feel the vibe. When it comes to portraits, having a little chat first is essential. It’s not just about shaking off those initial nerves; it’s about showing up as a human being. Getting to know someone on a personal level is completely different from hiding behind a lens and shouting directions. That first impression is everything. It creates an energy I can always lean back on if I ever get too caught up in the technical side of things during a long shoot.

Where Plans Meet the Moment

A script is a solid starting point, a reliable plan. The real excitement begins when the moment rewrites everything.

Plans provide a great foundation, but it would be a mistake not to embrace spontaneous opportunities during a shoot. We never copy reference photos; they are just a starting point and must be tailored to you so that every movement feels completely natural.

I have a proven trick for this: I always describe the direction I imagined in words first, and only show the visual reference as a last resort. When it comes to spontaneous movements, I look for those tiny gestures and little imperfections. They might not make a pose textbook-perfect, but in return, they make the image unique, genuine, and instantly recognizable.

The Final Touch

The photograph may be captured in a moment, but its final form takes shape at the desk, long after the shutter closes.

In modern photography, images often take their final form at the desk. Mine are no different.

During post-production, I carefully select and refine the photographs that will become part of a larger, cohesive series. This is where the planning comes back into the picture, together with the memory of everything that happened in front of the camera. 

My aim is to make the images as honest and visually compelling as possible without creating a new reality. I want to enhance what was already there, rather than replace it.

05 · Project philosophy

Longer projects

A part of my work consists of commercial photography, while the other part is made up of my own autonomous ideas. Although I consider it important to present both areas, here I would like to talk a bit about my autonomous projects, because I follow a completely different philosophy with them than with commissioned work or short, one time shoots.

By their very nature, autonomous projects are deeply personal. I am mostly preoccupied with human relationships spanning across time and space, the connection between humans and their environment, the search for identity, or precisely the questions of passing and the traces we leave behind. These themes touch me not only as a photographer but also as a human being, I have an opinion on them, and I connect to them personally. Because of this, these series are not just an album of perfect photos shot in an hour and a half, and the technical execution of the images also freely interprets industry standards.

At the same time, when planning a project, I establish a strict technical framework. This does not serve an idealized representation, but rather ensures a consistent appearance and a visual world that fits the theme. However, once the project is underway, I find it very difficult to deviate from these rules. I feel that I still have plenty of room to grow in this area. I need to learn to change details more boldly and spontaneously during long term projects without the fundamental visual concept of the project falling apart. Check back later and follow my work to find out if I managed to improve in this!

You can find the longer projects in the Projects archive.

Portrait made during the Camino project.
Visitor among the architecture on the roof of Milan Cathedral.

06 · Beyond

Other things I make

Beyond photography, I am interested in many other things that might also spark your curiosity. As I mentioned earlier, I built this website myself. Web development and programming have become increasingly exciting for me over the past few years, as in this world practically nothing is impossible and only our own imagination sets the limits to what we can create.

For instance, I created the Spot Sketch web application, which is a practical documentation tool for analog photographers, especially when using the large format technique and a spot meter. You can place the results of the measurements on a reference photo, and then by moving the values within Ansel Adams' zone system, the application also suggests exposure settings. In addition to the measurement data, information regarding the camera, lens, or film type and notes can also be recorded in a final document. At first glance it might seem like a minor detail, but in analog photography where exif and metadata are not automatically saved, it is a huge help that all important information is saved into a single, easily cataloged and printable file. Furthermore, you can easily replace the reference photo later with your scanned, finished image.

On the Journal↗ page, the desire to publish that lives inside me finds its way out. This is where I collect my thoughts, interesting facts related to photography, art, and technology, or where I introduce other inspiring artists to you.

Environmental protection is also a defining part of my life. We previously launched a podcast dealing with this, but we had to realize that the two of us were not enough for such a large task. Because of this, this initiative is currently on hold, but my long term goal is to organize a media community that provides reliable and verified information about the connections between our lifestyle and the state of the planet. I would like this platform to help dispel the many misconceptions that surround environmental actions.

My project, called Planet Resonance, is loosely connected to environmental awareness and the protection of our planet. This will be a channel dedicated to environmental sounds and videos, providing high-quality audio recordings for meditation, work, or sleep, sourced from nature and the acoustically rich world around us. I hope to launch this project publicly during the final months of 2026 or in the first half of 2027.

Interested in any of these projects? Want to see the process or take part in one of them? Feel free to send me a message, subscribe, or follow along to see what I’m working on next.

1  /  1