This Is The Interview I Did For “Θεσσαλονικέων Πόλις”. forgive My Poor English Translation , Was The Best I Could Do For Now. Hope You Enjoy Reading This.


Where Do You Get The Inspiration For Your Your Themes ? From The Things That Are Happening Around You , What Kind Of Things Inspire You ?


My works theme is moments and people of my life, I capture the environment, my own personal feelings and the people I meet and interact with during the course of my life. Many times with the use of symbolism or poetic approach, I try to express elements of human psychology as well as my personal worldview and philosophy regarding human relationships with others, ourselves, self exploration, the environment and life itself.What makes me want to photograph something is mainly instinct and my own subconscious, it is usually after the end result has been born that I understand the reasons why took a specific picture. The reason why I prefer to know the people I photograph is because I want the result of the work to display a “piece” of them and inevitably it will also always show a part of me as well, since I am the creator. It displays the feelings that I gather from that person, when I am around them, feelings that I can also sympathise with and relate to.In this way, the final result of the image is a mix of myself and the people I photograph, we become one, we enter a parallel universe in which “I” does not exist. It is a special connection that I like to create with my close people, to know them and for them to know me in depth, without fear. For both of us to be able to let go and embrace ourselves in a sense safeness, to show our whole self and receive full acceptance and not critique. There is something unrealistically therapeutic about it, for me and them, as they have said.


Is Thessaloniki A City That Gives Birth To Art?


Yes and no. Yes, Thessaloniki has many talented young people who have many artistic interests and uniqueness. So I think that it gives birth to arts, but at the same time I think that if someone stays permanently here, he is killing his own creativity. Personally, having lived abroad for years, I find it hard to find inspiration here. The reality of Thessaloniki is a continuous recycling and new stimulations are needed to create new art. For me, Thessaloniki is like a city in which time has stoped and does not progress. When someone seizes having new experiences and things to discover this comes with the consequences that he won’t bring life to new ideas and work.The country of Greece, with its political, social and educational course, “eats” its own children without leaving room for dreams and future. There will always be people trying to bring something through the ashes, and I’m not saying that there are not efforts being made, but in my opinion there is room for much more action to help the young artists and technologists of this city.


Did Technology Took Photography To The Next Level Or Did It Change The Way That Photographers Create Nowdays ?


Everyone can very easily call themselves almost anything, these days. Personally, I never believed that it’s the camera, analog or digital, what makes a good photographer, but only the work itself. It is true that things now have become a lot easier and I can say that it does bother me a little bit that someone just presses a button puts an automatic filter and suddenly an image that might otherwise have nothing to show gets infinite “likes” in social media.But social media is not really the right place to look for objective judgment on anything that has to do with thinking process and reflection, and when one really has the ability to “read” a photograph and is looking for something more than a superficial imprint of the moment, then this person can easily distinguish a strong from a weak photograph, one that has something more to it than one that simply intends to gather lots of “likes”.


Is The Photographer Just A Witness Of Events Or The One That Makes The Picture ?


A photographer is both these things. From the moment you are the one who creates something, and I say creates because an image depending on the person who is photographing it may end up looking very different, nothing can ever be absolutely objective since is been directed by ones conscious decisions. Especially if the creator is also editing the image to highlight specific pieces and give a particular atmosphere to the picture, so that the final result matches what they want it to be as they imagined it in their own minds.I personally treat my pictures as paintings, I give them the colours, the light, the shades, the emotions that the particular image makes me feel. Reality is different for everyone and how we choose to present it is personal, there is no real reality, there is not only one reality.
Do You Direct Your Shoots Or Do You Find And Document Your Subjects ?
Both. There are some pictures that are more directed than others, that are meant to capture a past or present emotion or memory. But usually my photographs depict the evolution of my life and my journeys, not exactly like a diary but much like a continuous survey of human psychology.


You Have Had Exhibitions Abroad. What Did You Gain From These Experiences ?


The pleasure of seeing how art knows no languages, borders and nations. That people from different countries with different backgrounds can have similar emotional experiences when they view art because we are all the same and we all experience the same emotions for different reasons at different stages of our lives.For me this is the greatest asset of art, that men should learn to cultivate through their own politics as well. For me it will always be inexplicable that such a small being in the universe such as humans can not see the bigger picture but in the contrary are “trapped” in seeing only themselves and nothing else.


Apart From Photography You Also Write Poetry. What Do You Express Through It ?


The same themes that I express through my photography work, personal feelings, experiences and personal philosophies about life. Unfortunately the deeper and “heavier” the feelings and thoughts are, the harder it gets to put themon paper. I have not written in the last few years as much as I used to write, which I intend to correct when I find the courage to “listen” to myself and the things I chose to bury within me because I prefer not to think about them.For me, writing is something more personal than my paintings videos and photographs, although everything can be interpreted in different ways depending on the viewer. I think that in writing I will always be more rigorous to myself but in the future, if I begin and work harder, I will try and publish something, maybe with a fake name , who knows.