HOARD: When did you first start taking photographs?
NIKOS: I bought my first camera when I was 16 years old, and tried to take some black and white pics. It was a Russian piece; ZENIT. I was photographing my friends and family for the next few years. After my 7 year amateur career, when I was 23 years old, I became an assistant for a famous Greek photographer, Vangelis Tsangaris. So, somehow my hobby became a job. After 4 years assisting in Athens, Hamburg, and London, I started to work as a photographer on my own projects.
HOARD: What kind of photographic subjects draw your interest the most?
NIKOS: Last two years, I have been working mainly on portraits and reportage themes; it's what I've always liked to shoot. I like people, and I've always found it exciting to see where different persons are living, working, sleeping, and falling in love... Reportage is an extended field of Portraiture. When I am traveling to shoot homeless workers in Beijing's suburbs it's all about people. Objects, landscapes, are all portraits of a person or a group of people. Well, the whole thing, I mean, is portrait. For me it's like a big wide window where there's a place for objects, stills, landscapes, details, and of course, a headshot.
HOARD: Do you work only with film? Or, do you also work with digital photography? Do you prefer film or digital?
NIKOS: Hmm... I am 80% film. I work also on digital, especially for commercial work. I think digital needs time to catch the quality standard of well shot film.
HOARD: What is the most important element to capture in portraiture photograhy?
NIKOS: 100% the glance & the mood! And it's difficult!
HOARD: Can you describe something about your process for portraiture photography? How do you work and interact with your subjects?
NIKOS: I have not any special way. I go, I meet, we speak, we find (or not) a way to communicate, and we make the pictures. I believe the best portraits are shot when the person feels like he takes part in the process - he takes the picture also - that's my way. But unfortunately, it doesn't work for all people. There are so many different tempers and reactions. In general, I enjoy to photograph children, but from my list of people I've photographed, I would choose Giorgio Armani. It was a great and creative shoot. Giorgio knows photography but left me to set him up as I wanted, only a couple of seconds before the shot he was changing the position, and laughing, saying, "hope you don't mind".
HOARD: Where did you grow up?
NIKOS: I grew up in Athens Greece and come from a normal middle-class family with no artists in close circle. We were, and still are, very close to each other and we meet very often. The neighborhood where I grew up (BRACHAMI) wasn't the easiest. It was a normal working class area famous for the tough guys and car thieves. It was a place - especially in the 80's until the mid 90's - with no chance to see or to make art. At the same time, it was a place with open houses for friends and neighbors. The dream of most of the kids was to become football players, or hairdressers.
HOARD: Where do you live and work now?
NIKOS: The last three years, I live and work between Hamburg (Germany) and Athens (Greece).
HOARD: Who are some other photographers or artists whose work you enjoy and admire?
NIKOS: Hmm...I love the work of Diane Arbus and Sebastiao Salgado.
HOARD: Define the word "beauty".
NIKOS: Well, I can't give any definition, but I am sure a beautiful person doesn't know that. I mean, beauty is not something conscious.
HOARD: On a shoot, do you prefer to work alone, or do you work with a big crew of assistants? Are assistants helpful or do they get in the way?
NIKOS: I have a permanent assistant in Athens and a part time producer & archive manager. In Hamburg I work with many freelance assistants. But I'd say I am not the man of big crews!
HOARD: There is an idea that when you photograph someone you can capture their soul. Do you think this is true?
NIKOS: Yes, it's true, and rare. I mean, it doesn't happen with most commercial portraits, but I have felt it sometimes photographing people in Bulgaria, or shepherds in Crete. That's the power of portrait. [ end ]
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Nikos' website is: www.nikos-chrisikakis.net
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