Romanian brothers Kálmán (b.1858, d.1935) and Ferenc (b. circa 1860, d. 1944) Dunky were the eldest of six brothers born to master carpenter Ferenc Dunky the Elder. Along with pioneering Transylvanian photographer Ferenc Veress, the brothers were the most important photographers in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, Romania, in the late 19th century early 20th centuries. Information on their early lives and education are scarce, and mention of them as photographers only began around the 1880s, escalating in 1883 when an article on Kálmán was published an issue of the magazine Fényképészeti Lapok (Photographic Pages) edited by Veress, which presented Kálmán as a trailblazing photographer.

In 1886 the Dunkys opened a photography studio in the center of Cluj, the capital of Transylvania. There, they quickly established themselves as popular portraitists and the official photographers of the Transylvanian Carpathian Society, and began holding exhibitions throughout the city. Additionally, they were known for their reportage photography, and are considered among the first to use the medium in the news-media field, capturing important events such as theater and ballet performances and visits from dignitaries. As well, they began photographing important Hungarian figures, representatives of art and culture as well as aristocratic families. This work would eventually lead to their commission as Imperial Court Photographers in 1898.

They were also noted for their staged mythological and Orientalist genre imagery featuring costumed young women - usually the daughters of aristocrats.

By the late 1890s they were exhibiting throughout Romania and abroad. Among their earliest major exhibition participation was the 1887 industrial exhibition of Dej (where they were awarded the Silver Medal), the 1888 General Exhibition of Pécs (Gold Medal), the Millennium Exhibition of 1896, where they obtained a Diploma of Merit, and in the 1897 Industrial Exhibition in London, where they won the Grand Prize and the Gold Medal.

In the early 1900s, the Dunky brothers opened workshops in other cities including Dej, Budapest, Miskolc, Sátoraljaújhely and Sárospatak. Their work expanded to include commissions by Hungarian silent film director Jenő Janovics to capture the ins and outs of his film production in Cluj, from 1913 to 1917. Janovics was interested in documenting the process as a whole, since film was a relatively new medium, and the Dunkys were tasked with photographing not just film sequences, but the cameras and other gear, the scene painting and building, and more. These photos were then displayed in the windows of cinemas, and have since become scarce due to the ravages of both World Wars. Kálmán died on February 5, 1935 and Ferenc died on April 3, 1944.

The Transylvanian National Museum holds the largest collection of Dunky Brothers glass negatives. In 2020, they held a retrospective of the brothers’ work in partnership with the Cluj-Napoca Cultural Center. 

Primarily sourced from an article on the Dunky Brothers written by Melinda Mitu, Deputy Director of the National History Museum of Transylvania (“Photographs Taken by the Brothers Kálmán Dunky (1858-1935) and Ferenc Dunky (ca. 1860-ca.1941), Included in the Patrimony of the National History Museum of Transylvania.” Acta Musei Napocensis, 55/II, 2018, p. 91–99).