In the interview below, he also revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets.
Had you had any contact with the ELI site before construction started?
Not much. For my generation, it was the area of Soviet military barracks, where we had nothing to do. Later, on a school trip, we visited the History of Information Technology Exhibition, which was then housed in one of the buildings but has since moved to Szent-Györgyi Albert Agora, a lively community centre in the city. I learned about the planned construction of ELI ALPS from the press more than a decade ago.
Who initiated the photographic documentation of the construction process?
I was invited to the Szeged District Studio of the Hungarian Television (MTV) in connection with a previous job. Before my turn came, physicist Károly Osvay spoke about the future scientific institute. That’s when it occurred to me that it would be worth documenting this project similarly to the construction of the Móra Ferenc Bridge in Szeged. My album Bridge Builders was published in 2011. Fortunately, my tenant at the time was a physics student, and through him and the Cultural Office of the University, I contacted Károly Osvay, who welcomed the idea of photographic documentation, and referred me to Zoltán Leindler, ELI’s office manager at the time. He was ambitious in helping me with my photo project, which I started already during the remediation of the military site. The pictures taken back then were published in online news portals, newspapers and architecture magazines. My 2017 photo album, Invisible Flashes, contains images capturing moments of the construction process of the laser centre between 2012 and 2017. The sequel, Pulses of the Future, shows how empty spaces come to life and how the building becomes a research institute. Three of my award-winning photographs in the media competition of the Szeged Academic Committee are included in my Pulses of the Future collection.
Fish harvest - Cultivation of fish embryos for radiobiological experiments/Zsolt Dobóczky
What experiences did you gain during the construction?
It was a gigantic undertaking. I was astonished by the precision of implementation of the monumental elements, slurry walls and piles. Witnessing the construction of the four piles, almost two metres in diameter, under the centre of Building A, or the honeycomb grid foundations supporting one part of the building, was a special experience. Lay observers cannot even imagine the extraordinary architectural solutions, for example, under the large grey cube. As an electrical engineer, I am also particularly impressed by the equipment that measures the movement and vibration of the building. It was a unique experience to see the concrete walls of the special laboratories being poured. It was rather nerve-racking to wait and see how the formwork would stand up to the pressure of the unusually thick walls. A unique technology was used to make the formwork for the spiral staircase in Building C and then to install its cladding at the very end of the construction process. The steel structure, which is no longer visible, was also very impressive during the construction of the so-called Brain, which now functions as a conference room and knowledge centre. I was amazed by the implementation of the ceiling-mounted, elliptical light fixture in the Focus, the Interactive Visitor Space. The builders created a 1:1 scale drawing by projecting the dimensions from the ceiling onto paper spread out on the floor.
What situations do you like when taking photos?
This is a very difficult question. Every situation implies the potential for a good picture. If you can tune into the moment, if you are interested in the character of the participants, the event or the phenomenon, then all the conditions are there for a good shot. As the American writer and filmmaker Susan Sontag put it, if you care about what you are photographing, sooner or later the good pictures will come. And one of the most important photojournalists of the twentieth century, the Hungarian-born Robert Capa said that “if the pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”. I loved taking photos in the labs, and I miss that vibe nowadays. It was also a fantastic experience to see the equipment being assembled and installed. During the construction process, I was technically challenged by dust and confined spaces. Later, in the laboratories, I had to cope with low light levels. Due to the experiments, sometimes the only source of light I had while taking pictures was an oscilloscope screen or a computer monitor. Still, it was the pictures taken under these conditions that are dearest to me, because they are the ones that really reveal what ELI is about.
Pondering - The vacuum system of an attosecond beamline/ Zsolt Dobóczky
And what situations do you dislike?
During photo shoots, I usually don’t like to be distracted with irrelevant things; they throw me off. This has never happened at ELI.
How do you work? Do you shoot a hundred and fifty photos and choose the best one, or do you plan the photos in advance and wait until the light conditions and people bring you the visual experience you are hoping for?
It is good to have the possibility to work along a preliminary concept. In the laser centre, the photo shoots were usually preceded by major preparatory work, but there were still some unforeseen, unexpected moments when I had to improvise. I usually took between 30 and 150 pictures among which I found the one I aimed for.
What is your aim with photography?
The need to capture the moment is an inner motivation. As a photographer, I am interested in many things: I like to photograph landscapes and buildings, but I am also into taking portraits. In an effort to show the diversity of the world, I consider it essential to document intellectual challenges such as the Laser Research Institute in Szeged. Capturing the birth of great achievements is not an end in itself.
Vermeer at ELI - Monitoring energy stability in the MIR laboratory/Zsolt Dobóczky
What does ELI ALPS mean for you?
I graduated as a teacher of mathematics and physics. I am also an electrical engineer who teaches electrotechnics. Besides teaching, ELI is my other passion. I have been photographing the institute for 12 years and it has become part of my life. I feel that ELI offers both values that define me: science and art.
Does the professional recognition and feedback send the message that your efforts are appreciated by others too?
They see the work I put in. A photographer friend of mine said after the publication of Invisible Flashes that “you know, many photographers would be happy to have just one album like this”. I have had three published in recent years. In other words, I cannot complain.
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Zsolt Dobóczky Zsolt is an electrical engineer, a photographer and teacher of electrotechnics at Gábor Dénes Technical and Vocational Secondary School affiliated with the Szeged Vocational Training Centre. He is a member of the Szeged Photo Club (since 1984), of the Photography Section of the National Association of Hungarian Artists (since 2016) and is also an honorary member of the Association of Bridge Builders. Between 2009 and 2017, he was the president of the Szeged-based Lajos Sándor Photo Club.
From 2004, his works of art have been presented to the public in solo exhibitions in Szeged, Sándorfalva, Budapest and Miskolc. His photos have been published in Vasutas Magazin (Railway Magazine), on origo.hu, in the local daily paper Délmagyarország and in Oktogon Magazin (Octogon Magazine). His oeuvre has gained acclaim at the National Railway Photography competition, at the competitions organized by the Association of Hungarian Photoclubs (MAFOSZ) and in the media competition of the Szeged Academic Committee. In 2022, his art was recognized with the 2nd prize of the TransNational Hungarian Photo Salon.
Photo albums: Pulses of the Future (2023), Invisible Flashes (2017), Bridge Builders (2011)