Following the example of Peugeot’s international YellowKorner photography project, the French brand teamed up with MOME’s Photography programme, inviting twelve MOME-affiliated photographers – alumni and PhD students – to develop bold and unconventional visual concepts that reflect the new model. In addition to supporting photography as an art form, the brand aimed to showcase the new model in an unconventional way. While Peugeot has previously worked with artists, this Hungarian project adaptation marked a departure from the use of a photography agency, instead giving an art university the opportunity to take part. 

“We are proud that while Peugeot’s central photography project involved the YellowKorner photography agency and international celebrities, the Hungarian adaptation allowed MOME’s talented artists to participate. The works completed so far by Oliviero Toscani, Laurent Baheux, and Mister Fifou, commissioned by the brand, are excellent examples of how industrial design can be approached from an artistic perspective”, said teacher of the MOME Photography programme Éva Szombat, adding that campaigns where photographers are given complete creative freedom to create works that also fit into their portfolio are quite rare. As she explained, this project is one such example, where the creative and applied worlds converge, and the completed series reflect the personal style of the artists. 

The works of the four internationally recognised photographers – Franciska Legát, Hanna Rédling, Ágnes Tar, and Balázs Máté – were selected by a professional jury. In addition to Éva Szombat, the jury included head of the MA programme and associate professor Gábor Arion Kudász, university professor Ábel Szalontai, photographer Zoltán Tombor, Peugeot brand manager Zsófia Bálint, and communications expert and mentor Gabriella Liptay. 

The exhibition features unique works exploring the theme of “Allure”– charm and seduction – while also reflecting the brand's values of freedom, travel, and sustainability. The images, created using diverse technical and aesthetic approaches, transport us into worlds where the line between reality and imagination is blurred. 

So, what kind of inspiration can a new model spark? Franciska Legát envisions a surreal interplanetary journey, presenting the car through the eyes of excited extraterrestrials. Hanna Rédling’s images explore the passage of time and joie de vivre, featuring women picnicking in an enchanting sunset. Ágnes Tar’s melancholic, experimental photographs combine manual distortion and scanning to create new layers. Balázs Máté focuses on the communal experience of hitchhiking, depicting how a car journey can foster deep connections between strangers, offering them the opportunity to open up while sharing the view through the car window. 

The exhibition represents Peugeot’s effort to support young artists while also promoting its new models in an unconventional way. 

“Throughout Peugeot’s thirty-year presence in Hungary, this marks the first time we’ve had the opportunity to participate in a fine art project like this”, said Director of Peugeot Hungary Zsófia Bálint at the opening ceremony of the exhibition at the MOME Campus. Of Peugeot's three core values – allure, excellence, and emotion – we chose the first as the focus of the competition, asking the artists to capture the moods and emotions evoked by driving, rather than concentrating on the Peugeot 3008 itself. It has been a great honour to work with such a distinguished partner as MOME and to offer talented young photographers the chance to produce truly unique artworks.”  

The joint competition between Peugeot and MOME imposed no thematic restrictions on the artists, giving the artists complete creative freedom to produce deeply personal works – an opportunity seldom offered in similar campaigns. “My fondest memories of travel are not of driving but hitchhiking. It relies on mutual trust between driver and passenger, much like the trust Peugeot placed in us by allowing complete creative freedom over both theme and execution”, reflected MOME lecturer and third-year doctoral student Balázs Máté on the inspiration behind his photo series. “For authenticity, we didn’t work with models. Instead, we reversed the hitchhiking process, inviting strangers we met while travelling to participate. Their responses were unexpectedly open and positive.”  

Hanna Rédling’s environmental and thematic choices were similarly rooted in personal experience. “The line between day and night is a special time when the world around us takes on a different character. In this transitional state, time seems to flow at a unique pace – simultaneously fast and slow, calming yet surreal, meditative, and magical”, explained the photographer, who earned her Master’s from MOME in 2020. “The subjects of my series are my 85-year-old grandmother and some of her friends. Inspired by their vitality, elegance, and friendship, I staged fictional scenes and photographed them from sunset until nightfall.”  

For Franciska Legát, who graduated from MOME last year, humour is central to her credo. Upon seeing the futuristic shapes of the Peugeot 3008, the idea of Martians setting off on a beach holiday quickly came to mind. However, it wasn’t the theme that made the project surreal: “This was the first time I had to manage every aspect of a photo shoot myself – organising everything and ensuring everything was properly arranged. It was a huge challenge with daunting responsibility, yet the sense of accomplishment in the end was immense.  The car was also a pleasantly unexpected surprise: though it seemed large at first, it turned out to be incredibly easy to drive. I was particularly taken with its small steering wheel and comfort.”   

For Ágnes Tar, the project felt both familiar and distant. Although she spent much of her childhood in the back seat of a Peugeot 206, she doesn’t have a driving licence – yet her week with the Peugeot 3008 gave her a poweful push to change that. A freelance photographer and MOME alumna since 2022, she clearly sees the unique opportunity initiatives like this offer young artists at the start of their careers. “I always prefer working in a setting where I don’t have to conform too strictly – it gives me the freedom to be more creative and true to my vision. A key takeaway from the project was realising that sometimes less is more; you don’t always need grand solutions. By the time I submitted my entry, I had a clear sense of what I wanted to achieve, and I was able to bring it to life – and we had a lot of fun in the process.”