Hungarian photographer Marton Perlaki is one the brightest talents currently emerging in the world of photography. His unique, surreal vision has helped him gain the attention of galleries and photography institutions all over the world (in 2015 he was selected for Foam Talent and the British Journal of Photography‘s Ones to Watch). The reason might be simple: Perlaki’s work gets deep under your skin and is impossible to forget. Perlaki’s upcoming book titled Elemer is a collection of seemingly random snapshots — from taxidermist birds to scientific test tubes to potatoes — skilfully compiled into a surreal narrative. The book also features a mysterious recurring character, a bald man with a expressive face, who the viewer follows on the strange journey. The fragmented narrative was orginally borrowed from early 20th century cigarette cards that contain an image on one side and a household tip on another. “On first glance, the images look silly and nonsensical, but when flipped over these pictograms suddenly make sense,” the photographer says.
Marton Perlaki’s Elemer will be presented at Webber Gallery Space in London on 13 May, more info here.