This exhibition is a product (and undoubtedly also a byproduct) of the digital revolution in photography. A few years ago, it would have been unthinkable and - quite logically - would have been considered a distortion. In those days, we almost arbitrarily decided what we preferred and simply bought the corresponding film. We stayed with black and white and (fewer of us) with color, usually because that was where we happened to be or because that was where we had started, without much thought, even though we often cloaked our choice with impressive and largely unsubstantiated excuses. Until the genie of new photographic technology, along with the endless conveniences and possibilities it offered us, added as a counterbalance a very heavy obligation: the choice. A choice that applies to all stages of the photographic process and can no longer be avoided under the pretext of technological difficulties. Among its highlights is the ability to see, project, and print the same photograph in both its color and black-and-white versions.
At the "Photographic Circle," in the recent past, we primarily made black and white photographs, about 95% of the time. The reasons were many. The simpler ones: because that's how we had started and that's what most did at the time or because color printing was difficult and expensive. The more complex reasons: because most of the photographers we admired belonged to the black and white era and because the applied photography and painting from which we wanted to distinguish ourselves were in color. And the more humorous reasons: those based on the most improbable and arbitrary theoretical constructions regarding the superiority of black and white photography. Recently, a large album of photographs by members of the "Photographic Circle" was released, in which the ratio of color to black and white photographs is about fifty-fifty. We could say, then, that this exhibition fits the "Circle" and that the "Circle" is justified in making it.
It is obvious that the photographers of the exhibition, each of whom exhibits one of their photographs in two versions (color and black and white), are not presenting their photographic work, not even a portion of it. They are more participating in an endeavor meant to stimulate our thinking and that of the viewers and to pose questions that cannot and should not be answered. The selection of photographs started—as always—from a general artistic criterion but was also influenced by the specific criterion of the pedagogical dilemma posed by the main theme of the exhibition. Namely, to provoke questions with the black and white conversion of the photographs. The photographs were selected by me after researching the archives that I keep with the "good" photographs of the members of the "Photographic Circle," which they entrust to me from time to time for evaluation. This means that both the photographers and I, as curator, agree that these photographs present some artistic interest. The selected photographs were originally in color and had been submitted as such by the photographers themselves. The fact that I chose among the color and not the black and white ones is due to the fact that the conversion necessarily starts from color since the digital files yield a colored result.
The selected photographs should generate questions and not present something self-evident, nor should they easily prompt an answer as to which is superior. Since these are good photographs, both versions should logically—in some way—be justified. Only the manner seems to be slightly different in each case, and that is what generates interest. With this ambiguity, the (digital) photographer must now get used to living and must express his choice decisively every time. However, a choice that will never be absolute (even if he thinks so) and that will carry within it the seed of doubt.
I insist on the word choice because it is the guiding principle of every artistic work, as well as the goal of every intellectual process. That is, the cultivation of criteria through which we are guided to more precise choices. Thus, a personality is formed and thus an artistic proposal is composed. The possibility (but also simultaneously the obligation and the freedom) of multiple choices is what frightened photographers when technology allowed them to see what they were doing through different versions. However, when the range of choices increases, so does the degree of responsibility of the photographer towards his work, and through this, his personal artistic signature is shaped in a more original way.
Plato Rivellis
Curator of the exhibition and president of the "Photographic Circle"
Angelaki Eleftheria  |
Angistrioti Natasa  |
Antoniou Periklis  |
Anyfantaki Eleni  |
Vassilikos Loukas  |
Voyatzakis Giorgos  |
Vrettakos Alekos  |
Gerontakos Vassilis  |
Georgopoulou Elena  |
Georgopoulou Ioanna  |
Yarmenitis Spyros  |
Goulios Themis  |
Gouzouasi Niki  |
Dazanis Sakis  |
Detsis Akis  |
Dimopoulou Maria  |
Zanni Lia  |
Zeri Maria  |
Zissis Yannis  |
Theofanidis Alekos  |
Iakovidou Aleka  |
Kavvadias Giorgos  |
Kakanakis Grigoris  |
Kanaris Stefanos  |
Kapelonis Giorgos  |
Karavia Vivian  |
Karamanghioli Nana  |
Karatarakis Manolis  |
Karoki Athina  |
Korinthiou Irini  |
Korovessis Nikos  |
Kourkafas Pavlos  |
Kourlamba Kleopatra  |
Kourbana Hara  |
Kopsahilis Christos  |
Konstantinidis Nikos/h3>
  |
Kotsi Niki  |
Lazarimos Thodoris  |
Lamprou Panagiotis  |
Lemonis Yannis  |
Liakounakou Alexia  |
Mathioudakis Giannis  |
Mandilaras Nikiforos  |
Mara Anthi  |
Marangos Stratos  |
Marapas Yannis  |
Margaritis Simos  |
Markolefas Panayotis  |
Millis Tasos  |
Mihas Angelos  |
Babis Haris  |
Banouta Maria  |
Belegris Alexandros  |
Benissi Mania  |
Bitzanis Kostis  |
Boikou Evi  |
Moratis Yannis  |
Nokas Ilias  |
Xenariou Maria  |
Oikonomou Polyxeni  |
Pangali Maria  |
Panakia Georgia  |
Papadakou Vania  |
Papadatou Athina  |
Papanikolaou-Kiousi Maro  |
Paradeisopoulos Andreas  |
Patrikiou Melina  |
Pattakou Katerina  |
Pavlidis Pavlos  |
Pilati Despoina  |
Pistola Lizi  |
Polytarchou Spyros  |
Rimantonaki Eleni  |
Rodopoulou Toula  |
Sandixi Kleanthi  |
Sarrigeorgiou Alexis  |
Seretis Kostas  |
Siomou Anastasia  |
Sorovou Christina  |
Shinas Andreas  |
Sotiropoulou Amalia  |
Tzeferi Maria  |
Tzouvaras Stathis  |
Tzoura Viki  |
Tsakiridou Fani  |
Tsepas Gerasimos  |
Fotouhou Angeliki  |
Haliori Efi  |
Hatzinikolaou Makis  |
Hristofidi Mary  |
Opening
