“Being on the
road, traveling without a predetermined purpose, looking around me with visual
curiosity and being surprised by what I encounter. While shooting, somehow,
thinking is suspended. It is like playing a game with reality. ”
Biography
Nikos
Economopoulos was born in the Peloponnese, Greece. He studied law in Parma,
Italy, and worked as a journalist. In 1988 he started photographing in Greece
and Turkey, and eventually abandoned journalism in order to dedicate himself to
photography. He joined Magnum in 1990, and his photographs started appearing in
newspapers and magazines around the world. In the same period, he started
traveling and photographing extensively around the Balkans. This won the
"Mother Jones Award" (San Francisco, CA) for work in progress. Upon
the completion of his Balkans project in 1994, he became a full member of
Magnum. His book "In The Balkans" was published in 1995 in New York
(Abrams) and in Athens (Libro).
In the 1990s, he started working on borders and crossings, photographing the inhabitants of the "Green Line" in Cyprus, the irregular migrants on the Greek-Albanian borderline, and the mass migration of ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo. In the mid-1990s, he started photographing the Roma and other minorities. In 2000 he completed a book project on the Aegean islands storytellers, commissioned by the University of the Aegean. A retrospective of his work titled "Economopoulos, Photographer" was published in 2002, and later exhibited at the Benaki Museum, Athens. Subsequently, he returned to Turkey to pursue his long-term personal project on the country, where he received the Abdi Ipektsi award (2001), for peace and friendship between Greek and Turkish people.
He has recently turned to the use of color. Currently, he is spending most of his time away from Greece, traveling, teaching and photographing around the world, in the context of his long-term “On The Road” project.
In the 1990s, he started working on borders and crossings, photographing the inhabitants of the "Green Line" in Cyprus, the irregular migrants on the Greek-Albanian borderline, and the mass migration of ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo. In the mid-1990s, he started photographing the Roma and other minorities. In 2000 he completed a book project on the Aegean islands storytellers, commissioned by the University of the Aegean. A retrospective of his work titled "Economopoulos, Photographer" was published in 2002, and later exhibited at the Benaki Museum, Athens. Subsequently, he returned to Turkey to pursue his long-term personal project on the country, where he received the Abdi Ipektsi award (2001), for peace and friendship between Greek and Turkish people.
He has recently turned to the use of color. Currently, he is spending most of his time away from Greece, traveling, teaching and photographing around the world, in the context of his long-term “On The Road” project.
Nikos Economopoulos nasce a Kalamata, in
Grecia, nel 1953. Studia legge a Parma, in Italia e in seguito lavora come
giornalista nella sua terra natale.
Si avvicina alla fotografia quando,
all’età di 25 anni, un amico gli mostra un libro di Herni-Cartier Bresson.
Esattamente dieci anni dopo smette di lavorare come giornalista per dedicarsi
interamente alla sua passione, partendo per due anni per una sua ricerca
fotografica tra Grecia e Turchia.
Nel 1990, incoraggiato dal fotografo Costa Manos,
diventa membro associato di Magnum e ne diventa membro quattro anni dopo alla
fine del suo progetto sui Balcani.
Ha pubblicato sei libri monografici,
partecipato a diverse mostre personali e di gruppo e le sue immagini sono
apparse su molti giornali e riviste.
Nel 1992 ha vinto il Mother Jones Award for documentary photography per il lavoro sui Balcani e il Ipektsi Award for peace and friendship between Greek and Turkish people. luganophotodays
Nel 1992 ha vinto il Mother Jones Award for documentary photography per il lavoro sui Balcani e il Ipektsi Award for peace and friendship between Greek and Turkish people. luganophotodays
All images © Nikos Economopoulos
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento