George Digalakis – Further away from reality

My first contact with photography was back in 1974, when my father gave me a “Nettar” as a gift. However, studying, and later practicing medicine, as well as the difficulties of analogue photography, limited my involvement with the latter.

It was only in 2011, when, after attending an online photography course, I was acquainted with classic and contemporary photographers and photography became my passion. Harry Callahan, Michael Kenna and Giacomo Brunelli, to name a few, have deeply influenced my work. I do not consider myself to be an artist, at least not yet. Nor do I believe that I have already developed my own personal style, although my works are characterized by some common features; minimalistic approach, presentation in black and white, high contrast prints, order and a peaceful, yet often sorrowful and lonely atmosphere.

My work is usually the result of forward planning or inspiration from certain objects. I rarely try to capture the moment and I’m not interested in capturing reality. Black and white is already a step away from reality, but I do not hesitate to go even further, adding or removing parts of the image,inmy attempt toconvey my inner vision and desired emotions. Modern technology allows an extensive manipulation of the images and my work relies a lot on post-processing. Another reason I work in black and white is that I consider color as a distraction from the main building blocks of photography: shape, lines, forms, and tones. There are of course scenes and themes where color is an essential part of the image, so I do also make color photography, but I rarely present it to the viewers.

I love water and it can be found in most of my photos, but it is never the main subject. I use the water and the sky as a canvas on which I place my subjects.They are the meansthrough which I try to convey emotions and to balance the image. My main project for the last two years or so, is waterscapes, characterized by a square frame, minimalistic and sometimes surrealistic approach, high contrast and a sense of isolation, loneliness and nostalgia. I use long exposure (one to several minutes), as it moves my images further away from reality, introducing the sense of passing time and eliminating the details from the background, highlighting my subjects.

At the same time, I’m still experimenting with other themes; another subject I find myself drawn to, is urban photography, and more specifically, water reflections and bicycles. A dark mood, high contrast and the sense of isolation and loneliness is also a feature in this project. I’m lucky to travel frequently in the UK and continental Europe, where I can find the appropriate atmosphere, which is missing from my home town – Athens.

I’m a member of the photography group “Unwrap” and this year I participated in my first team exhibition. As for the future … art photography is a demanding and highly competitive field. At the same time, my professional obligations do not allow me to dedicate as much time as I would like to photography. Some of the things I would like to achieve in the next few years, are the development of a more personal, original and recognizable photographic style and the presentation of my work at, at least, one individual exhibition.

Waterscapes I

Waterscapes II

Urban