retrospective – Babis Giannikakis takes photos

All posts filed under “retrospective”

Spyros Staveris … It is the first time that while writing about a photographer, I didn’t know where to start. What can one say about Spyros Staveris, a photographer who has uniquely recorded the multi-level Greek reality.

No matter what he shoots whether it is the forgotten personalities of Omonoia, or Pina Bausch or even the popular Greek singer Katerina Stanisi, he has the ability to balance his themes, stripping them from their secular, stereotypical profile.

I would like to thank him very much for the time and attention he spent on answering the following five questions.

– What do you have to say about the “invasion” of social media in the field of photography?

– Photography started as a simple act of recording but as it seems in our age it has become a medium that is directly affecting our lives. Through several ways, it has become a kind of Trojan Horse that has the option of altering behaviours, senses, ways of life. At the same time, it builds bridges, adds experiences and brings us closer to the beauty of life.

– Do you think photographer ‘s role has changed now compared to the 90’s?

There will always be photographers who record the big social and historical breakthroughs and others who turn to the ephemeral of personal life. The scale might change and certainly the way.

– Do you have any preference on what you like to shoot?

The city – any city – is always the starting and ending point. It is the primary field of the imaginary, the great promise, the condensation of all possibilities, the great wheel of impulses and surprises. Our breath n, the road gives us our freedom.

– Is there anything in all these years of your career that you believe you have conquered?

– I learned to appreciate the cheap, the small and the unfinished. The more you practice, the more you gain in range and sharpness, but also in receptivity. As long as we are not driven by a career logic and we do not get caught up in standards.

– What do you think about the future of photography in Greece?

– It is a remarkable fact that a new generation of Greek photographers has conquered photojournalism, has reached very high levels and has an international presence. Next to this generation, there is a whole galaxy of photographers who either possesses the medium or not, experiments, creates and shares images. and they also gain even more exposure through the increasingly dynamic new Greek sites and blogs which revolve around photography.

You can find Spyros Staveris ‘s blog in Lifo Newspaper: Α/Λ/Μ/Α/Ν/Α/Κ or follow him on his personal account on instagram.

November 27, 2017

5 questions for photographer Georgia Ponirakou

For the Greek version of this interview please press here

Georgia Ponirakou lives in Athens where she works as a photographer.Her photographic work highlights the disarming charm and honesty of the ordinary.

Below are five questions, that she kindly answered about her work as an artist.

– How did you start with photography?

– It all started some years ago with POFPA(Cultural Club of Students of the University of Athens) seminars. This was my first contact with artistic photography and film, I have been returning to film every now and then then mainly because of the textures and colors that I find there.

– In your work you put the boundaries of privacy and personal life in constant pressure. Do you think that a photographer must put limits on his artistic creation so that he doesn’t turn himself into a voyeur or even become a victim of voyeurism?

– Nowadays all of us are potential voyeurs or voyeurism victims. Like most things in life, this is also a matter of perspective: applying limits to creativity in fear of something happening that escapes your control, seems like self-censorship. In my work, I am usually the subject along with my private life – however, in terms of an observation framework, it would be sterile if anyone stuck to just that. Scratching below the surface is what makes the work important, and when I think about my work, it would be impossible for me to perceive it as voyeurism: a viewer who perceives it as such, is likely to be trapped in lonely and, perhaps, unhappy thoughts.

– Nowadays there is a tendency of contemporary photographers in getting inspired from things that are more mundane/ordinary. Do you think there is a reason behind this? Do you consider yourself as part of this movement?

Daily routine gets more comprehensive when I photograph it. I remember better, I decode better, I see better. Mundane is part of our lives: bigger for some, smaller for others. Perhaps it is due to an inherent need to identify what is important in life – things that are not necessarily related to acts of heroism or elusive concepts but to simpler (non-simplistic) acts that may define our existence.

– How difficult is it for a modern woman to fit into her life the transcendence and devotion that art requires?

A spontaneous response to this would be “as much as any modern person, regardless of gender”. Inequality is also present in the art field. Unfortunately, it is not self-evident that a woman can produce art if she desires so, given the fact that quite often her expected social role precedes that of being an artist (sometimes with an ironic connotation). It is not easy for a woman to exceed the limits set beforehand for her but that is exactly the challenge here. For me, she should be devoted to what she does and avoid getting distracted by extrinsic factors.

– If you did not take pictures, what else would you do?