ENCOUNTER

ANTONIS GIAKOUMAKIS

// Originally from Chania, Crete, Antonis now resides in Chalandri, Attica. Utilizing his camera, he narrates tales of life and art. As a dedicated member of the Greek photography collective, Photopia, he immerses himself deeply in the world of photography. We’re delighted to showcase several images from his collection, “Encounter”. In this series Antonis takes us on a journey through vast landscapes, where human presence is a whisper.

Antonis has been engaged in photography on a regular basis since 2012, he mentions being “absorbed” by his work in information technology for 37 years prior. He has actively participated in numerous group exhibitions and competitions, earning recognition for his work. Despite his extensive experience in photography, he humbly acknowledges that he continues to learn and grow in the craft.

“I don’t photograph with goals and intentions. I’m not trying to “make” a concept in advance. I’m interested in creating an atmosphere, a spark through her frame or a part of it, that might manage to prompt the viewer to create their own narratives. To take us on journeys we didn’t expect to go…,” says Antonis. “I consider photography to be the art of perception as a result of a representation of unpredictable moments. Anyway, human life is full of images, events that are registered in our memory like photographs.”

“Freedom is the will to be responsible for ourselves. It is to preserve the distance which separates us from other men. To grow more indifferent to hardship, to severity, to privation, and even to life itself.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

What draws you to the arts?

People enjoy looking at, watching, and experiencing art maybe because sometimes people prefer to express themselves through art (artistically) rather than just telling other people what they are feeling and thinking in a more straightforward and less symbolic way; But i think that there is no specific answer to this question, nobody really knows why. I am represented by Pablo Picasso’s saying that…’The purpose of art is to wash the dust of daily life off our souls.’…

What do you like about this project?

I like to make up stories, like a storyteller in photography (finding the right angle of view), because as Ansel Adams says, “You don’t just take a picture with the camera. When you photograph, you “carry” with you all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved “.

In his own words, Antonis talks about his project “Encounter”:

This series of my photos, which has been captured in a photo book, is nothing more than an attempt to approach human moments that are most often done subconsciously. An effort that continues. Observing people from a distance I feel that I distance myself and that I become more objective, more free! The big horizon, the most complete image of the space, creates an incomparable sense of harmony and form…. a calm. So, many times you get the feeling of changing time with leaps into the past or the future.

The power of photography for me lies in symmetry, clarity and austerity,
to create emotions, narratives and reminiscent of music and poems we have heard or read. To be able to highlight the experiences of the photographer to bring to the surface his memories, because photography is their “recorder”. Photography, one or more clicks that capture an event, a scene, immobilizing time in the space where it takes place. This inadvertently creates a new reality or better consciousness that I feel the need to share with others, with the expectation of understanding. … The photographic record transforms into an emotion at the moment of capture, capturing a fleeting memory.

I do not try to photograph according to a concept, I am more interested in creating an atmosphere, a spark, through its frame, which may manage to urge the viewers to create their own narratives. To take us on trips we did not expect to go. Often I go back to the places where I’ve been before and take pictures again and again, in an attempt to capture the “ideal” atmosphere I would like, which may be different each time, as it depends on my emotional state at that time, as well as the given scene that fleetingly passes before my eyes. So, I try to approach my subject spontaneously, putting as little information as possible in the composition of the frame, isolating only the essential, with the greatest possible objectivity, so as to bring the human factor to the forefront, knowing that many times this may be… an illusion!

Antonis also wrote a poem about this project, which is shown below in translation from Greek.

Encounter

Brief dialogues, a click in time. I keep my distance, the journey short with color.

The horizon is vast. The view is grand. A human figure in the background, where the gaze gets lost. As if afraid to approach.

I keep my distance, to distance myself from the moment. From the frame itself. To feel free, to feel liberated. To sense it even if I don’t touch it. The distance that brings you close.

I keep my distance and hear the breath! The dialogue is brief, a click in time.

I pass through the same place, again encounter another figure, another presence. Reflect. Close to the water of the sea, of the lake.

With the eye of abstraction, you see things that don’t exist and the image is full. Say something too, a word, tell me, sensation, tell me, sea, tell me, human. Speak!

I say Encounter!

A dialogue at a distance! a click in time. With colour.

Images may be cropped for layout. Click on the photos to see a larger version.