[1] Born in Budapest, Farkas grew up in São Paulo, where his parents emigrated in 1930, when he was under 7 years old.

His father, Desiderio Farkas, was a founding partner of the Fotoptica company, which he eventually led.

In 1979 he created the São Paulo Photo Gallery, exclusively for the exhibition of photographic work.

He dedicated an important part of his career to training, as a professor of photography, photojournalism and cinema at the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo.

He was also a producer of documentaries, among which Brasil Verdade, Jânio a 24 Quadros, and Coronel Delmiro Gouveia.