Szilveszter Makó: Control, Craft, and Contradiction in Photography

Hungarian photographer Szilveszter Makó, based in Milan, rejects the label of photographer, preferring to see himself as the manager of his own miniature theater. He insists on total control over his shoots and postproduction, refusing to share his darkroom methods even with close collaborators. Makó resists digital culture—no Photoshop, CGI, or AI—and favors handmade sets and props that bear the trace of touch. He reuses objects until they exhaust their potential, describing waste as 'the most irregular.' His influences include the 19th-century Hungarian ballad 'Ágnes asszony' by János Arany, a story of madness embedded in the mundane. Makó grew up in Lillafüred, a fairy-tale town at the foot of the Bükk Mountains, raised by conservative postcommunist grandparents. He attended a Waldorf school for two years, an experience that grounded him in slowness and tactility. He says he exists somewhere on the autism spectrum, which informs his detail-oriented, obsessive approach. His portraits include Marina Abramović, Elle Fanning, and Rama Duwaji, and he has collaborated with Maison Margiela, Dior, and Ami Paris. Makó describes his mindset as 'brutalist' and imagines his inner architecture as 'lots of little rooms' filled with carefully gathered trinkets. The article appears in Aperture No. 263, 'Secrets.'