PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for March 2024 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“ My father died 2 months ago. A tremendous punch in my stomach. And still recovering from it. 2 weeks after his death we had a booked trip with my wife and son to Albania. Until the last day we could not decide if we would travel there, due to the circumstances, but finally we decided that it could do as good to get away. This photo was shot in Durres while on a sight-seeing walk with my family. It gave me a smile in these difficult times. Also, while my father was fighting for his life for a few months before he died, I used an expression that is rather a personal invention than something we use in greek language. I used to say that he is fighting like a dog. I consider this photo a sign from the universe and a symbol for a happier future. “

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

For November 2023, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 2 photos, by Dimitris Makrygiannakis.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“I visited Prague for my 10th of 11th phototrip there in October 2023, I have lost count of how many times I have been in this beautiful city. I would stay 2 weeks and in the middle of that stay I would teach a workshop. I arrived in Prague with many things going on in my mind and my life and a belief that I would not be able to concentrate on photography. I even was thinking upon my arrival that this might be my last visit in Prague. But Prague had other plans for me. I had some beautiful photographic days. This photo is a reminder of those days. Thank you Prague, I feel like home there. And I am happy to be coming back in 2024.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for October 2023 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis , as voted by BME members.

Some words by Dimitris about the photo:

The Coypu also know as Nutria is a large semiaquatic rodent. Plenty of Nutria reside on the shore of river Vltava in Prague. That night I was actually photographing the swans on the shore when suddenly I saw the Nutria holding a carrot. I was kind of amazed to see the fine way it was holding the carrot and I decided to try to make a photo. I am quite compulsive when I shoot to always look through the viewfinder but here it was impossible. So I nearly placed the camera on the ground, in a short distance from the Nutria. The rest was pure luck, the frame that turned out this way, and the focus too, as I was shooting in auto focus mode. I welcome luck in my photography of course, but I prefer my compulsive way, to be able to feel that the photo is a 100% result of my mental effort.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for November 2022 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“In the spring of 2022 I visited Prague for the 9th time to shoot, with no clue what I would find this time. There is this park close to Charles’ bridge which is beautiful, quiet and a place I “meditate”. There are several peacocks in this park but I had not really paid that much attention to them before, except 1-2 photos I had from previous trips. This was the first day of my trip and this was the first photo of that first day. In some magic way the rest of the trip got focused on peacocks, like a new project. I am thinking sometimes that this wide open mouth shouts welcome to me and my new project.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for August 2022 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“The story of this photo is not that exciting. One of those “I pass by something, I see and I shoot” photos. More interesting is the fact that from the very beginning I shot it, I was annoyed with the small sign with the social media links of the street artist. I wished I could use the erase tool and get rid of it, but I am not really into erasing things from my photos. So since I thought that the rest was very interesting, I decided to keep the photo and post it online. After that I realised that I could at least send the photo to the street artist and so I did. It is not usual we can know who the people we are shooting are, so finally this sign served a good purpose I think.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for July 2022 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“I made this photo in a recent photo trip in Prague this May. Was the 5th day of the trip and although all previous days I was taking the tram passing just outside my apartment to reach the areas of the city with most photographic action, this certain day I decided to do something different. Walked all the way from my apartment to reach a spot of the Vltava river I never been before, just to see something new. The walk was about 3 hours and it honestly felt like a wrong decision. Passing through uninteresting residential areas for all those 3 hours, I started thinking the photographic day was lost. And then I reach the river. And the first thing I see is this swan mother with her 7 babies. The energy inside my body and mind changed, I could feel the change, I could feel that something was going to happen, but I did not know exactly what. I just waited there looking at them and trying not to disturb. At a certain point I made a step forward, not knowing exactly why. That scared the mother, and she started opening her wings to make the babies move inside the water. It all happened too fast. I made 4 frames, and this will stay forever. My first thought was that there was a meaning for those 3 ‘‘meaningless’’ hours of walking. This photo is one of the most meaningful of my ongoing swans project. I would probably be happy enough if this was the only good photo of the whole trip.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

Photo of the month for January 2021 by Dimitris Makrygiannakis, as voted by BME members.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“I traveled to Prague in the end of September 2020 for 2 weeks. It was just when the second wave of the pandemic had hit the Czech Republic. My plan was to shoot mainly in Charle's Bridge, the main touristic spot of Prague, a great place for street photography. In-between, I was planning to visit a beach next to the bridge, where many swans gather to get fed by the tourists. This was the first day of my trip. I started in Charle's Bridge and I was shocked to discover there were almost no people. I thought at least I have the beach and the swans left to shoot those 2 weeks. But the beach was empty of swans. Suddenly I had to forget my plans and readjust. I thought to walk along the river and see if I can find swans elsewhere. After an hour of walking, I found the swans, they had just migrated to another part of the river. Old plans got semi-saved finally. I spent 2 weeks following the swans in their new home. The settings were different, and this new environment inspired me a lot. This is the last photo of that first day. A shock can turn to something positive sometimes.”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

For July 2020, 3 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 3 photos, by Dimitris Makrygiannakis.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

‘‘Back in 2012 I was lucky enough to spend 4 months shooting in India. The last month of that trip I visited the small and very beautiful city of Jaisalmer with an initial plan to stay for 4 days. Which finally became 24 days since magic things regarding photography happened. I don’t really remember the story of this photo. I just remember it was shot in Jaisalmer.’’

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

For June 2020, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 2 photos, by Dimitris Makrygiannakis.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

‘‘This photo is taken in a very popular spot in Prague, many married couples get photographed next to the swans. In such scenes, and while shooting, I constantly think and ask myself: What more can you do than the wedding photographer does right now? What can you do to make this more than the regular wedding shot? In this photo, I decided to include the lower part to reflect the necks of the swans and place the bride in the middle of the frame. And accidentally, there was this pigeon there too. I hope I achieved something more than a pretty wedding shot here. What I achieved for sure was to break the balls of the wedding photographer, I flashed around 20 times to get this frame.’’

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

For February 2020, 3 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the second of the 3 photos, by Dimitris Makrygiannakis.

Some words from Dimitris about the photo:

“Prague is currently the city where I travel to shoot. Between 2018 and 2019 I took 3 trips to make a project about cemeteries in Prague. Days at the cemeteries were quiet and very focused and many late afternoons around sunset time I made sure to finish my day at this beautiful spot next to and looking directly at the famous touristic spot of Prague, Charles Bridge. A smoke and a time to relax, looking at the most lively bridge in the city (and probably one of the most lively pedestrian bridges on the earth) and looking at life after long days in the cemeteries. Swans for me are a symbol of beauty and life. I made my first swan photo on a lake next to the hospital where my son was born premature and stayed 2.5 months in hospital fighting for his life. Life and beauty, and the beauty of life came together that moment. Since then I fell in love with swans. And I always try to shoot them when I find some nice opportunity. This spot in Prague is full of swans. That night I brought together a bride and a swan, the swan stealing the beauty of the bride in my eyes. Marriage, life. Beauty. Beauty of life again. A nice contrast to my ongoing project during those days.“

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

View fullsize

This month, 2 photos shared the first place for photo of the month, as voted by BME members. This is the first of the 2 photos, by Dimitris Makrygiannakis.

This is what Dimitris remembers about that photo:

This is a photo I discovered recently, looking into my archives. In October 2012, I spent 3 weeks in the city of Varanasi, India. Main purpose of my stay in Varanasi was a workshop I attended, by Magnum photographer Nikos Economopoulos. The day before this photo was taken, a major religious festival, Durga Puja, was taking place. I attended it with the hope of a good photo, but no luck. During the festival, statues of various gods made of plaster where carried around and celebrated. Next morning, I woke up to take one of my usual morning strolls along the Ganges river. With the first sight of the river I noticed something different. All those statues from the celebrations of the previous day were thrown in the river, plaster got dissolved in the water, and only the metal and straw based inside part of the statues remained. This looked like a corpse in my eyes, and the river was full of corpses. I knew then that I had a different element for my photos. Thank you Durga Puja……

PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY DIMITRIS MAKRYGIANNAKIS

View fullsize

Our photo of the month for March as voted by Burn My Eye members belongs to Dimitris Makrygiannakis. Here what Dimitris has to say about the making of this photograph.

”Every time a new year starts I feel the need to start the year with a good photo, it is kind of a very pleasant feeling when it happens. So this is from the 6th of January 2019. I don't know how the rest of the year will be, but I am happy it started that way.”