Photo of the month for July 2023 by Zisis Kardianos, as voted by BME members.
Some words from Zisis about the photo:
"My photography often swings between description and abstraction. And where in the former it's more deliberate and composed, it is in the later that feels, and probably is, more intuitive and spontaneous. This image is the capture of a fleeting impression shaped by silhouettes and reflections on the windows of a bus, somewhere in Athens city centre."
For March 2022, 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 Zisis Kardianos.
Some words from Zisis about the photo:
“I'm attracted to these nondescript landscapes, these non-place spaces. We pass them by with our car every day but we hardly ever give them a second glimpse or even wonder what they conceal let alone feeling the urge to wander around in a quest for the unexpected. A photograph can be real and lie at the same time. It represents the illusion of reality and as a result it is open to a multitude of perspectives. It's all part of photography's most treasured assets. Its descriptive dexterity, its ambiguity and delusion.”
There is nothing I enjoy more when I’m out shooting than small crowds of people where I can merge with them and pass virtually unnoticed even when I’m photographing very close and occasionally using handheld flash. I don’t use extreme wide lenses, and I don’t want to ridicule anyone by capturing them in an awkward moment. If that accidentally happens, I don’t show the picture. In such a busy environment, I find it very challenging to pack as many elements as possible into a tight frame without the image falling apart, even as the subject is constantly shifting. This photo was taken at a street party in Athens. Besides being an exercise in the above, it is also part of an ongoing series of mine called “Fair enough!” The man in the center, who has his arms above his head, is the anchor of the image and what triggered the shot. This is what I saw. The two men on the left are almost touching heads, and it appears as if one is whispering something to the other who in turn looks dumbstruck. This is what the camera saw.
I haven’t been to this village fair for some years as I hardly shot in the place where I live any more. I thought that photographs like this, depicting local customs et al. belong to some previous photographic life of mine. But you are never really through with a place, especially if you live in it. Having nothing better to do, that Monday morning after the Greek Orthodox Easter, I remembered that a small religious procession of an icon that takes place every year the same day, and off I went. I didn't shoot much but this picture, despite all its little flaws, made my outing worthwhile.
