Hellenic American Union - Photographic Circle
Photographic pairs
Lia Zanni - Michalis Politopoulos
The "Photographic Circle" continues its collaboration with the Hellenic American Union with the seventh exhibition in the series titled "Photographic Pairs." In these exhibitions, the work of two photographers and members of the "Photographic Circle" association, whose paths in life or photography intersect in some way, is presented each year. They may be relatives or inseparable friends. Their photographic subject may be the same, or their artistic approach may be similar. However, they may also be connected through the essential difference of seemingly similar work. Thus, the dialogue of the two artistic proposals will extend beyond the displayed photographs, as the relationship between the photographers and their proposals will provoke searches for identifications and distances.
This seventh exhibition in the series, titled "Photographic Pairs," includes photographs by Lia Zanni and Michalis Politopoulos. The two photographers are connected by a personal friendship and are among the oldest members of the association and members of its Board of Directors.
The exhibition is curated by Panos Rozakis.
The exhibition opens on February 7, 2017, at 7:30 PM, in the Kennedy Hall of the Hellenic American Union (Massalias 22) and ends on March 4, 2017.
Photographic pairs - Photo exhibition by Lia Zanni and Michalis Politopoulos
Lia Zanni
Lia Zanni's images take us back to the origins of photographic art, where the natural desire to collect familiar moments intersects with the personal, unique, and selective perspective of a conscious creator. Describing her surroundings with tenderness and sensitivity, she manages to transform them into a "theater" of her daydreams. As we leaf through her album of memories, we participate in her small, seemingly insignificant, daily "rituals" and taste the emotions of her visual wanderings. We recall familiar sounds, forgotten tastes, and smells, regaining nuances of sensitivity that are covered by the intellectual noise of our times. And for a moment, we regain our faith in the magic of paradise, which dissolved when we were exiled from our childhood room. A lost paradise, but perhaps for that very reason, the only true one, according to M. Proust, the writer whose pages she loves to return to so often.
Michalis Politopoulos
The field of photography today is dominated by images that scream the ambition of their creators. This intention to impress is easily betrayed by their forced "originality," which is exhausted in semantic and emotional underlinings, formalistic acrobatics, and extreme minimalist choices. Michalis Politopoulos, perhaps due to his character, has avoided these pitfalls from very early on. He seeks and enjoys the small, fleeting moments of his life, while his photos, melancholically fluid, "speak" of time slipping like sand through our hands. By exalting the enjoyment of the moment, he makes us share in this experience. His innocent gaze is nourished by seemingly insignificant family and travel moments "dressed" with sensuality and tenderness. Thus, his images, free from boasting and the anxiety of success, envelop us with their calm contemplation, simplicity, and the charm of their naturalness, like the melodies of the East, the ideal place of his travel escapes.
Panos Rozakis
Athens Opening, February 2017
Volos Opening, June 2017
