T.Rod

As Ludwig Stein’s great-great-grandson, I carry a connection not just to his name, but to his movement — between places, between disciplines, between times. I was born in Bern, the city where he taught and wrote some of his most important work and where a big part of my family lives until today. As a photographer, I’m not here to illustrate his biography. I’m here to explore the spaces between fact and memory, between archive and intuition.

This photograph was taken last week on a hill in Erdőbénye, in eastern Hungary, the birthplace of my great-great-grandfather. The lake used to be a quarry and, according to local stories, it filled completely with water in just two days after workers struck a spring deep underground. Some tools were recovered, but beneath the surface, objects that had to be abandoned still remain.

#DerGreifXFUTURES: Join the public presentation by artist-in-residence Tim Rod (@tim.o.rod ) and archivist Balázs Som at the Capa Center (@capacentre ), Budapest. In his ongoing project “Prophetic Futures”, Tim Rod investigates the friction between visions of progress and the pressing realities of today. Drawing from the work of his great-great-grandfather, he revisits Ludwig Stein’s philosophical theory of Evolutionary Optimism, reinterpreting it through a contemporary lens. The concept of Stein‘s social optimism and theory of progress can be critically examined today, especially in the tension between technological development, social justice, and ecological challenges. While the idea of messianic progress remains present in many societal narratives (e.g., the notion of technological utopia or infinite growth), we are simultaneously experiencing crises that call this belief in progress into question: climate change, social inequalities, and political instability. The FUTURES x Capa Center Residency Program provides selected emerging photographers with the time, space, and resources to develop new work, with a strong focus on the artistic process and research. Each residency creates an environment for experimentation, exploration, and production, offering participants the opportunity to push the boundaries of their practice while engaging with critical contemporary themes. The presentation will be introduced and contextualized by Balázs SOM, archivist (Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, Budapest). 📅 April 24, 6–7 PM 📍 Capa Center Studio 🎟 Free admission | In English @futuresphotography is supported by the EU under the Creative Europe program @creative.eu . #CapaCenter #FUTURES #TimRod #EmergingArtists #ArtistsinResidence #Budapest #talk #ArtistTalk #DerGreif #CreativeEurope

“To this day, that small piece of earth remains dear to me as a memory of home.” Born in 1859 in Erdőbénye, a small village in the Tokaj wine region, Ludwig Stein had the Hungarian soil quite literally beneath his feet before thought ever carried him into motion.

In recent days, I’ve been exploring Ludwig Stein’s relationship with Hungary. Although he left the country as a young boy, he returned repeatedly throughout his career. He maintained close personal and political ties to the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Here’s another update on my research at the Robert Capa Center in Budapest. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the archives of the Hungarian Jewish Museum. Remarkably, six letters from my great-great-grandfather Ludwig Stein to the Hungarian sociologist Kőrösy József were found. The handwriting is beautiful but somewhat ornamental—I still need to decipher it before I can fully understand the content.

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