Everything that applies (good or bad) to the broader cultural and educational policy and perception undoubtedly influences photography. However, there are many reasons that make the latter more peculiar. Among these, a significant role is played by the fact that most private or public actors and officials were dragged towards photography rather than being convinced of its artistic quality. There is also the observation that the confusion between its applied or commercial side and its purely artistic dimension is even stronger and darker than in other artistic fields. While the artistic nature of photography, which everyone suddenly agreed upon without understanding it, is extremely complex. Therefore, it is as dangerous for commercial photography of advertising and reportage to invade the art space as it is for artistic photography to be identified with the visual arts space.
A while ago, a notion of statism in art prevailed in shaping our country's cultural policy. The creation of a series of institutions was proposed, which would consume a lot of energy and abundant money in infrastructure and operational expenses, downgrading the individuality of creation and artists. Fortunately, the trend towards privatization, even of state enterprises, put a brake on these ambitions, and this era bequeathed us only two institutions, which, since they exist, must be operated, but they do not convince with their existence.
The network of cities left behind a Photographic Center in Skopelos, supported only because it exists by those involved in photography. The last director of it has been doing his best to keep alive what initially had no reason to be born. Why on a remote island, one of the hardest to access, where there was no local infrastructure or interest, and without a trace of previous private initiative, should a Photography Center have been "planted"? The few successful similar attempts were based on the previous presence of dedicated private individuals, like the Dance Center in Kalamata with Vicky Maragopoulou, who had been running a ballet school in the same city for years. Meanwhile, the Skopelos Center absorbs significant annual amounts, essentially to produce a significant exhibition every two years and distribute it throughout Greece for the rest of the time. The director's relentless efforts are not enough to breathe life into a rather stillborn idea.
The second state institution is the Museum of Photography in Thessaloniki. Another institution that absorbs some state funds, to do nothing special. To date, the only substantial contribution of the Museum was the annual organization of a series of exhibitions in Thessaloniki under the title "Photographic Conjuncture," an organization inspired and "set up" by Thessaloniki's Aris Georgiou, an active private individual, who did not need the existence of the Museum to continue. The establishment of a single Museum of Photography is not preferred internationally. The complexity and multifaceted nature of photography do not "fit" into one and only museum, especially when even painting museums are segmented into periods.
The fate of the Museum of Photography and the content of its activities remain a mystery, and let's hope that with the guidance of the new director, Kostis Antoniadis, it will quickly find its way and direction. Meanwhile, there should be an effort to support every Museum to establish a Photography Department (and I'm not just referring to an archive). The Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, ELIA, the National Gallery, the Goulandris Foundation in Andros (which may also settle in Athens), and above all the Benaki Museum should and can have a Photography Department. This will differentiate the Collections, mobilize the curators, and strengthen healthy competition. All these Museums should also have a space for photographic exhibitions, which should always be combined with publication and lectures about the exhibits. Photography is not something given and unchanging, but something that constantly evolves and forms a new identity. The personality of the various curators and the policy of each museum will energize and exploit the vitality of photography as a new and contemporary artistic medium. The only Greek museum that can claim to have an organized and significant photography department is the Benaki Museum, whose activities around the preservation and dissemination of photography, both old and contemporary, are particularly important.
At the private initiative and organizational level, there are in Athens: a) The "Hellenic Photographic Society," the oldest non-profit photographic entity trying lately to shed its conservative restraints, with unknown results so far. b) The "Athens Photographic Center," which methodically and carefully produces exhibitions in its own space on Sina Street and around which many notable photographers revolve. c) The "Hellenic Center for Photography," which focuses exclusively on organizing a series of exhibitions every September under the title "International Month of Photography." And d) the "Photographic Circle," also known as "Photochoros," which is involved in organizing exhibitions, but mainly in delivering artistic seminars and publishing photographic books. And since we mentioned the need to support institutions by specific individuals, it is worth mentioning who primarily represent and support the above entities. For the "Photographic Circle," the author of this article, for the "Hellenic Center for Photography," Stavros Moresopoulos, for the "Athens Photographic Center," Nikos Panayotopoulos and Kostis Antoniadis, while the "Hellenic Photographic Society" is presided over by Grigoris Vlassas but is presented much more as an organ with collective leadership and guidance.
In Thessaloniki, beyond the "Photographic Conjuncture" and the "Museum of Photography" already mentioned, there is the "Photographic Center of Thessaloniki," which recently has shown significant initiative in organizing exhibitions with an emphasis on the Balkans, under the guidance of Vasilis Karkatselis, while the very likable and numerous group "Opsis" in Stavroupoli with a completely collective leadership and guidance is not limited to organizing exhibitions but also takes care to maintain the interest and artistic productivity of several young photographers.
Beyond the two major cities, there are small groups in many Greek cities that, depending on the presence of a more active and capable inspirer, move in small steps, producing exhibitions and a rather lean photographic creation. Such groups exist in Rhodes, Heraklion, Zakynthos, Florina, Mytilene, and many other cities. Special mention should be made of the seemingly significant effort of Yiannis Stathatos to hold an annual short meeting in Kythera on the subject of Greek Photography in general, during which announcements and lectures would take place.
A policy for Photography, as well as for any other art, cannot be formed overnight, nor should it be definitively determined with unchangeable characteristics. In my opinion, what matters most is, on the one hand, that the Ministry of Culture trusts those individuals who have the enthusiasm to produce work regardless of the State's intervention and subsidies, and on the other hand, to create a sense of fairness and impartiality in the distribution of state funds.
Entities with a history behind them and have already shown work should be subsidized annually with a relatively stable amount to cover part of their operating expenses so that they can calculate and plan their future. If these entities have specific proposals for funding, they should submit them and be treated equally for each proposal, just like anyone else seeking assistance from the Ministry. Because it must be emphasized that it is wrong for funding to be given only to legal entities and not also to natural persons, who should not be treated with suspicion. The funded should present specific data proving the realization of the work for which they received funding. And if the work was done, especially with a high-quality result, this will be a necessary and essential element for re-considering an application from the same legal or natural person.
The preference for subsidies should be given first to educational initiatives (invitations of theorists and photographers for seminars in Greece or abroad, organization of conferences, combination of exhibition and educational activities, etc.) and should not leave these sectors to the sad presence of KEK, second to the production of photographic work (applications aimed at producing original work), third to the support of photographic publications (which could also be done by purchasing copies for distribution to school libraries) and only fourth to organizing exhibitions. Contrary to today, where the first place is given to the promotion of the work. The reasons are first that the promotion is easier, second that the State believes that production is a given, and third that the promotion provides the State with a quick and high-return advertisement.
The judgment for the subsidies and the evaluation of the proposals should be undertaken by a committee of people from the artistic photographic space (not the syndicalist or commercial one) who will rotate in it each year with the participation of representatives from the Ministry, of course.
The above thoughts and judgments do not aim at the policy of a political party. I am sure that any party in power, perhaps not only in Greece, would show the same hesitation and make the same mistakes. The State has only recently realized that it has a role to play in the art space and is still searching for it. Charismatic presences, such as Malraux in France or Melina in Greece, are not the answers. Cultural policy requires deeper study and should not be based on charismatic exceptions. Art, as a space with vague boundaries and even more ambiguous criteria, always generated tensions and conflicts. Now that state funds have been added, the tensions have taken on clearer reasons.
The State should move with the following general thoughts and directions: First, with the conviction that people, individuals, make art. Neither the state nor the institutions. Second, if possible, it should alleviate their financial obstacles by supporting their efforts, under the non-negotiable condition that they also participate. The State, which precedes private initiative and which overshadows the needs of the individual artist or organizer, essentially turns him into a public organ and removes the significant motivation constituted by private "passion" and personal inclination and need. Third, that to promote a work, it must first have been made. Therefore, the State should support initiatives that underpin the production of work and which are an incentive to produce new photographs. Photographers need such goals. Fourth, that the work needs an audience, and it is sad that the audience for artistic photography consists of the circle of creators and their friends. The State should support efforts that combine exhibitions, publications, and education. Direct or indirect. Thus, the audience will gradually be created. Fifth, photographic publications with non-commercial photographs are doomed to bankruptcy. The State should support them because this is primarily how photography is disseminated. Exhibitions are forgotten. Publications remain. Finally, and above all, the State, either through the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Education, or with the help of the Local Government, should understand that photography as an easy, accessible, and contemporary medium is an ideal tool for familiarizing students and adults with artistic creation. And to use it. All arts will benefit from this.
I feel the need to emphasize in closing my remarks that beyond any state support, photography in Greece today is the art that has made the most progress and has the least to envy from abroad. An art without tradition in our country has, in recent years, gained many devoted followers and managed to multiply its presence and significantly improve the cognitive field of its creators and admirers.
Plato Rivellis