Over the past two centuries, similar interpretations have emerged about the authenticity of both historiography and photography. The subject of the historian who explores the events of the past is woven into the description of the event he or she is investigating, similarly to how the photographer decides to frame the subject in the moment of the exposure. The technical precision of the medium has put photography at the service of science. However, the influential role of the photographer is often forgotten in the process of expanding the photograph into a complete (supposed) reality. In my thesis I have examined the photographic interpretation of three historical events in the above context. The first of these was the 1921 referendum in Sopron. The only surviving Hungarian photo album from the time conveys a narrative of Hungarian virtue, resistance, struggle for freedom and comradeship. The power of these popular motifs overshadows the (small number of) photographic documents capturing the fateful political negotiations, thus leading to false conclusions and confusion in the memory of the referendum. The surviving photographic representation of the epoch-changing events of the Hungarian twentieth century is based on a relatively narrowly selected, well-known archive. The memory of the revolution of 1956 is based on a photographic record of heroism, courage and sacrifice of the insurgents and the cruelties of the state. The revolution’s narrative thus becomes one-sided, simplifying a reality that is in many ways more nuanced. The images showing the brutal melee and the cruelty of the lynchings during the siege of Köztársaság Square have been faded out of the series of reportage images that recall the events of that October in this country. The shameful photo series simply does not fit into our national mythology of heroic and tragic memories that was collectively defined after the end of the communist era. In case of the events of the recent past, the main protagonists (be they individuals, political interest groups or trends) are still active participants in political life. Thus the political limelighters of the revolutions of 1989 in Hungary are selecting carefully among the documents of the era, highlighting those that are favourable to them, while trying to ignore or even downplay the significance of everything else. In my thesis, I examine the relationship between photography and historical reconstruction through these three (partly epoch-changing) domestic events. In doing so, I will also attempt to outline the relationship between the historiographical narratives that use photography as a source, and the politics of memory that superimposes on them. All this suggests that historical factualisation based on photographs is subjective, relative and arbitrary, therefore can be misleading.