Once again I found myself roaming the fields with my camera bag. I made these two self portraits to answer the following question: If you could describe your photographic style with a self portrait, what would it be like?
These are the images that immediately came to my mind. The process felt like going back to my roots. I have been taking self portraits for more than a decade. I will always experiment and try new things, but me alone in a field with my camera will forever be “me”
Last summer I spent some days with family in my father’s birthplace, a small village in the mountains. During one afternoon walk, my daughter and I stumbled upon an old abandoned house. It was very easily accessible and seemed safe, so I went in to take a look. It had been a really long time since I last took my camera and went outside to take a self portrait. It looked so beautiful that I decided to come back, on my own this time, to take a self portrait.
It was a modest family home typical of the village. The first foor, that was where the family lived, was essentially one big room with a wooden wall separating a small part of it. The old wooden floors were creaky, but intact. The light came pouring through the windows and there was a cabinet built in the wall on the far end much like the one in my grandfather’s home.
While I was walking around and taking my shots I wondered: Who lived here? Were these walls filled with joy, struggle, or the echoes of laughter? Did they ever imagine their home would one day be silent and forgotten?
While editing these shots, three ghostly figures emerged, eerie and captivating, almost like the mythological Fates—silent witnesses to the past, holding the threads of its story.
Prints of this image are available.
Four of my self portraits were selected as part of the photo book “Mythography vol. III“.
Established in 2021, Mythography is a series of collective photo books freely inspired by Greek and Roman mythology that result in exhibitions and talks in the international setting of Trieste Photo Days.
After the first volume dedicated to Mars, Saturn and Neptune, the second one to Apollo and Pluto and the special issue dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Mythography Vol. III” focuses on the figures of Diana, Minerva and Ceres.
The book is composed by more than 350 images and was edited and introduced by Enrico Medda, professor of Greek Literature at the University of Pisa. A special guest of the project was the world renowned photographer and URBAN Photo Awards juror Jérôme Sessini (Magnum Photos).
The best authors selected by the Exhibit Around editorial team:
The photos were exhibited during Trieste Photo Days 2023 as part of the Mythography vol. 3: Diana, Minerva and Ceres exhibition (27/10-26/11/2023).
I have the great honour to announce that I will be participating in the 2019 organization of the Contrast Photography Festival of Thessaloniki. The festival’s title is “2084” and it aims to investigate the various interpretations of the prophetic book “1984” by George Orwell. “2084” will feature four big group exhibitions that will present many different perspectives and insights inspired by the 1984 book with references to the present and the future.
When I saw the open call for submissions to the festival, quite a while ago, I was immediately drawn to it because of its theme. George Orwell’s “1984” is one of my all time favorite books and undoubtedly one of the world’s literary masterpieces. I made the decision to participate and right away I started to think of ideas for a brand new photo series based on the festival’s theme.
My idea led me to a whole new photographic experience, trying out so many new things to make it work. I made a brand new series, titled “we are the dead“, that will be displayed for the first time ever during the festival. Although the series was completed many months ago, I chose to wait and release it online just before the festival. So, during the next weeks, I will start to release the pictures, followed by some rather extensive blog posts about the whole process and experience. Also you will have the chance to take a look behind the scenes, in a series of videos that I have prepared for you. I am really excited that the time has finally come to share this experience with you!
Details for the upcoming exhibition:
Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki, Periodic Exhibitions Hall C
Opening: Sunday December 1st, 12:00
Duration: 1/12/2019 – 12/1/2020
Archaelogical Museum of Thessaloniki : 6 Man. Andronikou, tel. 2313310201
Opening hours: everyday: 8:30-16:00 ( December 25th, 26th and January 1st: closed)
I wish you all a happy new year, filled with inspiration, imagination and creativity!
The end of the year always seems as an appropriate time to reflect on one’s choices, successes or failures. It is a time when we all get to stop for a minute and actually think about how we spend our lives and if we are satisfied.
When I was younger I used to keep a diary, like all the little girls, where every end of the year I would write a summary of my year, mainly to revisit my most important moments and somehow keep them with me. I still feel that taking some time to reflect on your life like this is precious and because of that, I believe everyone should do it more often and not just once a year. Perhaps that should be my first goal for 2015: taking more time to self-reflect.
In terms of photography, this year has been full of satisfactions for me. I consider 2014 to be my starting year, because although I took pictures long before that, I had not yet found my personal style, my true passion.
In 2014, I had the chance to experiment and bring my imagination to life. In the beginning of the year I had set and written down some goals and although not all were achieved, I am very happy that most of them were, but more importantly that I actually tried! I realize now that one of the most important things in life is to let yourself try to follow what you are really passionate about, instead of just wishing you could do it. Yes, that is what 2014 has taught me: if you love something, then just get up and go do it. No excuses, no doubts, no fear. They are useless in the end. All that matters is that you do the best you can to be happy.
This year I decided to let myself be a photographer. I decided to use whatever tools I had at my disposal, to get out and look for locations, to let my imagination show me the way. It was probably the most liberating and rewarding experience of my life and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I created 22 pictures and I am proud for each and every one of them. I got to participate in two art festivals where I showed my pictures to the world outside the internet. I got to travel to a lovely island because of my photography. Most of all, I can now say that I am more in touch with my true self than I have ever been. And I am no longer afraid to let everyone see that.
This new year is going to be challenging, I can feel that already. Work is going to be more demanding and writing my master’s thesis is going to take up most of my time at least until the summer. Time spent on photography is shrinking, but not disappearing. I know now that doing this, is something I will never get enough of, so all I have to do actually, is to keep doing it.
I’d like to thank all of you that have shown your support these past months, either here or on facebook, flickr or 500px. Every click, like, or comment, feels like a hand that is reaching out to mine, to tell me that there is someone by my side. Thank you all for being there.
A tremendous amount of gratitude and all the love in the world go the man of my life, that has been my most dedicated fan, the best photographer’s assistant you can find and my favorite person in the whole wide world. Thank you for coming with me on my adventures, for your feedback, for understanding why I clutter our house with all sorts of stuff to use in future photoshoots and accepting that I will continue doing that.
I wish you all to have a great year, spend time with your loved ones, have fun, create and never stop chasing your dreams.
Hello everyone! I am happy to announce that my website is ready! Yay! It tool me some time, because I haven’t designed a wordpress site before, but I am very satisfied with the result. You might have noticed that I also have a new logo, which I also designed myself. Nothing fancy, but I like it! Please take a look at the website and tell me what you think. Your opinion matters!
