VANGELIS
ANDREOPOULOS
From the first moment when I started using Moscow's metro, I understood, and above all, I felt, that it is a unique and separate universe with its own laws, mythology and atmosphere, which lives, breathes and evolves in but also alongside the dimension of the known world. Its unique and distinct geometry, atmosphere, and temporal and spatial dimension, full of hints, thoughts and feelings, constitute an inexhaustible source of inspiration and creative quest.
The interesting fact about the creation of this series is its beginning, which started before the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is always a mystery to me how some particular intuition, perhaps some instinct, led me to start seeing the image of a world that felt limited, confined and bleak, just as it later became through quarantines and restrictions. It was precisely this sense of confinement and limitation, and especially the reflection of its consequence on the existential core of man, that combined and mixed within me, along with all that I have stated about the Moscow metro and its unique character, that gave birth to the material that forms the essence of this work.
An atmosphere of anxiety, uncertainty and allusion. Man as a material and spiritual dimension within the distinct space and time of the metro, within its unique geometry and mythology. The forms, shapes and colours. The memory of a world whose image is blurred and the thought of a world that emerges. Abstract thoughts that connect the past, present and future. And always and everywhere, man. Alone in the great metropolises, though so close to fellow human beings. Alone before the deep existential anguish of life and death, walking on the tightrope between resignation and transcendence. However, it is good and right for interpretation to remain open. Fortunately, the interpretation always ends up being the personal affair of the viewer, based mainly on instinct, imagination and experience, since language is never enough to explain what an image can say without words.
METROPOLIS 2020
Solo Art Exhibition, 2023
METROPOLIS 2020
Solo Art Exhibition, 2023
Photography constitutes one of the most challenging creative forms because of its technical ease, motivating the creator to focus on the artistic aspect of the process. At its core, it is a medium that mainly focuses on the ephemeral and temporary aspects of the world, trying to render them immortal through the transformation process. This transformation process is precisely the most challenging creative problem for every artist, as they need to find a way to transform the materialistic and temporary aspect of the visible word into a new form, constituting a new universe characterized by a lasting sense of poetry.
The "Snapshots" project is dedicated to this art form by stripping away the distraction of colour, which always guides the viewer to the illustrative and descriptive elements of the world, leaving behind only the raw elements, emotions, intricate textures, and nuanced contrasts that define each image. On the one hand, the absence of colour invites viewers to engage with the essence of the scenes, encouraging a deeper connection to daily and ordinary subjects and the stories they tell. On the other hand, the whole photographic process is all about composition, all the active elements of the frame and their organization within the frame, which transforms all those daily and ordinary scenes and objects into a new poetic and lasting artistic form.