On March 4, 2026, we bid farewell to the distinguished and meritorious artist, honorary member of the Euro Foto Art International Association, who passed away on February 6 in her 95th year of life.
Éva Keleti was born in 1931 in Budapest. From 1949 she studied physics and chemistry at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). In 1951 she left the university and began working at Magyar Fotó, where she completed a reporter training course under the guidance of Ernő Vadas and Klára Langer.
From 1955 she worked as a reporter at Magyar Fotó, and later at its legal successor, the Hungarian News Agency (MTI). Between 1976 and 1989 she was picture editor and photojournalist at the magazine Új Tükör. From 1991 she worked for HT Press and the Gamma Photo Agency, and from 1992 she served as head of the photo editorial department of Europress.
In 1976 she taught press photography in India at the invitation of the Press Institute, and also taught at the Hungarian and the International School of Journalism.
Her six-decade oeuvre was presented in a highly successful retrospective exhibition titled “Élet/Kép” at Műcsarnok in 2019. In 2021, a large-scale exhibition of her iconic and new photographs opened at the Eötvös10 Cultural Centre under the title “Keleti Éva 90!”. In 2023, the exhibition “Amit még nem láttatok… – Keleti Éva” showcased previously unseen photographs at the Aranytíz Cultural House. Last year, the exhibition “Szubjektív”, featuring actor portraits taken in 2022 and 2023, was presented at the Alföldi Gallery in Hódmezővásárhely.
