A Renowned Photographer Documenting Greek Heritage and Traditions.
George Tatakis, a distinguished black-and-white photographer, is celebrated for his profound documentation of Greece’s cultural heritage. His black-and-white photography [http://www.tatakis.com/] goes beyond visual aesthetics, offering a deep dive into the traditions and everyday lives of the Greek people. Through his work, Tatakis provides a significant contribution to preserving Greek culture and tradition, making his black-and-white art a stunning addition to any wall.

Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/05d85e7df1f6abb49f48a39bf62a35be.jpg

From Engineering to a Passion for Photography

Originally from Athens, George Tatakis began his career in electrical engineering, obtaining a Master’s degree in the field. Despite his success, his true passion lay in photography, an interest he pursued since childhood. In 2013, Tatakis decided to transition to photography full-time, leaving behind his engineering career to follow his artistic calling creating acclaimed work. He now sells this work as black-and-white wall art [http://www.shoptatakis.com/], for interior decoration.

Ethos: Celebrating Greek Traditions

In 2015, Tatakis initiated the “Ethos” project, a series capturing traditional Greek customs and events. This collection offers an intimate look into Greece’s cultural heritage. “Ethos” has been exhibited in esteemed locations such as the Benaki Museum in Athens and the Fragonard Museum in Grasse. The project is praised for shedding light on the unique aspects of rural Greek life, thus preserving these practices for future generations. His work in black-and-white photography showcases the depth and nuance of Greek traditions, making his black-and-white art a compelling choice for those looking to add cultural significance to their walls.

Caryatis: Honoring Traditional Greek Costumes

Following “Ethos,” Tatakis launched the “Caryatis” project in 2019. This series features staged portraits of women in traditional Greek costumes, inspired by Alex Prager’s exhibition. “Caryatis” has won 22 international awards and has been showcased globally. Through this project, Tatakis aims to celebrate and maintain the beauty and cultural significance of Greek traditional attire, making his work a notable example of black-and-white art that brings historical fashion to life on the wall.

Distinctive Photographic Style

Tatakis’s black-and-white photography is distinguished by its high contrast and meticulous composition. Using only a Leica Q camera and natural light, Tatakis captures geometric forms and textures. By omitting color, he invites viewers to focus on the fundamental structures and stories within his photographs, creating a profound visual experience that enhances any wall with its sophisticated black-and-white art.

International Recognition and Collaborations

George Tatakis’s work has been featured in major international publications, including The New York Times, National Geographic, and Leica LFI. He has collaborated with notable brands and organizations such as Leica, Canon, Huawei, Blue Star Ferries, and UNESCO. Additionally, the Benaki Museum preserves his digital archive, ensuring his cultural documentation remains accessible to future generations. His black-and-white photography has earned a place in prestigious collections and is admired for its artistic and cultural value.

Exhibitions and Media Features

Tatakis’s photography has been widely exhibited in Greece and internationally. Notable exhibitions include:

*
“Ethos” at the Benaki Museum, Athens (2018-2019)

*
“Another Europe” in London and Bucharest (2018-2019)

*
“Ethos” at the Fragonard Museum, Grasse (2019)

*
“Caryatis” at the Karelia Museum, Greece (2023)

His work continues to inspire and educate, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage in a rapidly changing world.

Commitment to Legacy

George Tatakis remains dedicated to documenting Greek culture and mentoring new photographers. His work not only captures the visual beauty of Greek traditions but also serves as a crucial record of cultural practices that might otherwise fade away. Through his lens, Tatakis offers a timeless glimpse into the heart of Greece, inviting viewers to explore and appreciate its rich heritage through his evocative black-and-white photography.

For more information on George Tatakis’s work, visit his official website [http://www.tatakis.com/] and e-shop [http://www.shoptatakis.com/] for prints, where his black-and-white art can add a touch of cultural elegance to your wall.

Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/792bc63d31191bd4c3188a10aa79f37b.jpg

About George Tatakis

George Tatakis is an Athenian black-and-white photographer who has won 22 international awards. His work focuses on capturing the cultural essence of Greece through evocative and meticulously composed images.

Media Contact
Company Name: George Tatakis
Contact Person: George Tatakis
Email:Send Email [https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=george-tatakis-captures-the-spirit-of-greece-through-black-and-white-photography]Country: Greece
Website: https://www.tatakis.com

This release was published on openPR.

For area wedding photographers, capturing a couple’s big day is about the little things.

According to shootdotedit.com, photojournalistic or documentary-style wedding photography is at the fore.

“It’s become clear that documentary/photojournalistic photography is among the popular wedding photography trends,” the site states. “This photography style focuses on capturing moments as they happen – candids, and without any staged poses or setups.”

East Meredith resident Mikala Gallo, of Mikala Gallo Photography, said, though she’s refined her process, capturing intimacy has been her focus from the start. Gallo said that she works locally and has “been able to do a lot of weddings toward the Hudson Valley region … and a few in the Saratoga-Albany region.”

“I photographed my first wedding during the pandemic,” she said. “It was a friend of mine who asked me to do it … and I was so nervous. I was doing social work and I didn’t love my job and was feeling really stuck about what I wanted to do. During lockdown, I remember seeing a lot of information out there about wedding photography, and I got by this $7 workshop you could take online: ‘Learn from industry professionals.’ I was like, ‘yeah, why not?’

“After that, I was so inspired and thought, ‘yeah, I can do this,’” Gallo continued. “I would do anything — families, couples, weddings — so I just promoted myself online and didn’t charge an extremely lot of money and I think that helped me. I photographed weddings from 2020-’21 to now, and that’s pretty much been my sole focus, working with families and couples and portrait work here and there. But to sustain myself and be able to do this full time, weddings have really allowed me to do that. And I truly do love weddings; they’re magical.”

Since starting, Gallo said, her trajectory has mirrored shifts she’s seeing in the industry.

“In 2022, I think I did over 25 weddings, and that was so much for me,” she said. “I remember feeling really burnt out and overwhelmed. In 2023, I decided to do less weddings and just really focus in on making sure the client experience was a lot better. And last year, I don’t think it was more than 12 or 13, and that’s the whole year. My season for wedding photography doesn’t start until May or June — sometimes earlier with a random elopement or micro-wedding — but typically the season is May to November.”

“I think, with access to social media, trends or weddings in general are just so glorified and romanticized,” Gallo continued. “But there are people who just want to get married and have a good time. There’s a lot of money that goes into the production of a wedding and creating an experience for guests but, I think as far as things that go into wedding photography now that might not have been happening before or that might be shocking to people is, trends recycle. I see a lot more film being (used) and Super8 — motion film — being used to document wedding days, and I think it brings people back to their childhood and they feel really nostalgic. I really love film, and that’s a place I started my journey with photography, so I’ve been 100% on that train. I just really love being behind my camera, photographing things, so having the opportunity to slip into more of a documentary role and not make the day a production, but watch the day as it unfolds, has been so amazing and something I didn’t realize was my style until probably last year. When I first started wedding photography, I felt like I needed to help orchestrate the day and tell people how to be and where to go — the mom to zip the dress or place the shoe and put people in positions I’ve seen done and they’ve seen done. Now, I step back and watch and observe and think, ‘If I wasn’t here, what would they look like?’”

Cooperstown-area photographer Brittany Lesavoy Smith, of Brittany Lesavoy Smith Photography, said she, too, is focusing on a connection-driven approach.

Lesavoy Smith established her business in 2015, after working in marketing and communications for the Glimmerglass Festival for more than 15 years. Her first camera, she said, was “a hand-me-down” from a festival photographer, and “it all took off from there.”

“From the beginning, I knew that I loved photographing people,” she said. “From some of the family sessions or portrait sessions I had done, I had couples reach out about photographing elopements. I started with much smaller weddings … so, once I had (those) in my portfolio, the inquiries began to come in and I thought, ‘I can do this.’ There’s something about the smaller weddings and elopements and how I can become part of the day and become a little bit more of a fly on the wall, but also part of the entire experience. It’s getting to know the couples more and their family members that I really like.

“I think, and maybe because this is a style I aspire to, there’s more of a focus on documentary-style or more in-the-moment (photography),” Lesavoy Smith continued. “I get a lot of inquiries, and the couples request those in-between moments or the candid moments, so I think there is more of an emphasis on that. I think a range will always exist — from large, expensive weddings down to the more intimate, elopement-type ceremonies — but I do think that some society pressures have lifted, in terms of ‘first you meet, then you get married, then you buy a house, then you have a child.’ Some of those very rigid parameters have lifted, so, priorities for some couples have already shifted and, with that, comes the focus of a more intimate ceremony”

Oneonta native Hali Kate Tomczak, of Hali Kate Photography, echoed that. Tomczak is a teacher in the Oneonta School District, though said she “always had an artsy background.” Tomczak noted that she covers all of Otsego County, “from Meredith to Cooperstown,” trying to “stay within an hour radius” of Oneonta.

“It wasn’t until my daughter was born and after our wedding that I was drawn back into photography and started to learn digitally and was taking online classes and anything I could,” she said. “It was really looking back at my wedding album and seeing how much emotion and love was in (those photos) that I thought, ‘I have to have photography be part of my life.’

“This will be my third wedding season,” Tomczak continued. “So, I was drawn to that emotion and love and was like, ‘What if I step back from families to where the love really begins?’ I started second shooting (for another wedding photographer) that summer and fall of 2021. There was going to be a wedding expo at the Foothills and I was ready and jumped in. After that … it spiraled from there through word-of-mouth and name and there was such an abundance of weddings being rescheduled (post pandemic). It took off and I really fell in love with the emotion of the day. And those smaller weddings, you’re able to have those moments with your guests and they’re there to celebrate you, so if you can’t do that, what’s the point? I’m looking for those in-between and really genuine moments. My work has never been about (being) posed and looking at the camera; I’m really after connection.”

Balancing the demands of such an approach, sources said, comes with challenges.

“Two years ago (the hardest part) was editing,” Gallo said. “Editing is really time-consuming and it’s challenging, because you have this idea of how you want everything to come out and you’re sitting there playing with the different tools in the program and you can get really frustrated with it. But I also really like to dedicate time and energy to people, so I want to sit down and have real conversations with them and I sometimes feel like I can’t do that with the amount of clients I have at a time.

“This year, I have 12 or 13 weddings, and that’s feeling doable, however, I’m also feeling like, ‘Oh man, I want to give them more time,’” Gallo continued. “I’m fully putting on myself this version that is probably not attainable. In my mind, it’s like, ‘I need to be doing more,’ but that’s also just the mindset of entrepreneurship.”

Gallo noted that, typically, following a client inquiry, she’ll schedule a 30- to 60-minute phone consult to “talk about what their day is going to look like and what they want from a wedding photographer … and what resonates or doesn’t with them.’ Depending on the wedding size, she said, that is followed by two to five more consults before the day.

Lesavoy Smith said the intensity of expectation factors, too. Lesavoy Smith noted that she works “primarily in the Cooperstown area.”

“There’s an immense amount of pressure for documenting this day and keeping these memories safe, so being sure all of your equipment is safe – your primary equipment, and then your backup equipment,” she said. “And making sure all files are downloaded and backed up as soon as possible; some photographers do that in their car after the event. So, there is a lot of pressure that comes with photographing weddings and the photographs are often what the couple has to remember the day by, so it’s not only the equipment and those aspects, but delivering something this couple will really appreciate, enjoy and cherish.

“And there’s a huge physical aspect to photographing weddings,” Lesavoy Smith continued. “Some photographers are carrying two camera bodies at a time, some with longer, heavier lenses … and you’re getting on the ground and off the ground, running and chasing and that type of activity, so it can take its toll on the body. For all of the bigger weddings I’ve shot, they tend to have longer contract times, so they are often eight-hour jobs and it’s on your feet, carrying that equipment and you might also have a suitcase … and you’re on constant alert: ‘What am I missing?, What’s happening now?, That’s a beautiful moment, but it’s across the room, so sprint.’”

“A lot of people don’t realize how much work it is after the fact,” Tomczak said. “The day itself is probably the easier part. It’s the culling; I’ve taken all these images, but it’s getting them down to the ones I want to work with and edit and it’s that process of making it as consistent throughout their gallery as possible. Eight-hour days are not my favorite and being on my feet for eight hours is long; I know there are photographers that offer 10-hour (days), but that’s too much. But it’s the editing that takes the most time, and other parts that go into it are working with the couple beforehand and establishing a connection. You’re not just showing up on their wedding day.

“(Meeting) before their wedding day is really helpful, and just communicating with them,” she continued. “I’ve found, through trial-and-error, that, to just keep making things really precise and clear and the more communication that happens, the smoother the day will be. The easiest thing is capturing the day as it unfolds; the emotion is the easiest part, and the beauty that is already in the day and highlighting that.”

But, sources said, connections forged and fulfillment keep wedding photography worthwhile.

“I really appreciate the connections I’m able to make with these people I would not have had the opportunity to necessarily meet otherwise,” Lesavoy Smith said. “I have photographed couples that still visit Cooperstown every year, and I meet up with them and stay in touch and I’ve become friends with some of these families, so I do think it’s the connections and meeting these new people and getting to know aspects of their lives and families and journeys that keeps me coming back.”

“There are so many things that are rewarding about it,” Gallo said. “For one, I get to do the thing I love the most, which is photograph people. And I get to talk to them about emotional things, which I also really love. I’m such an emotional, sobby, romantic person, and I get to sit down and talk to them about what matters to them most, so those are deep, heartfelt conversations right off the bat.

“It’s generations and family and people … and bringing all these people (the couple) loves together and celebrating,” she continued. “It is really beautiful to witness and capture and, having that trust to be the person documenting the day, it’s really awesome; so overwhelming, but also really awesome. So, it’s high risk, high reward.”

For more information on photographers featured, visit mikalagallophoto.com or follow @mikalagallophoto on Instagram; brittanylesavoysmith.com or @brittanylesavoysmith; halikatephotography.com or @halikatephotography.

More than 300 images from Elton John and his husband David Furnish‘s extensive photography collection are currently on display at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Elton is one of the world’s foremost collectors of photography, but says there’s one kind he hates — photos of himself.

“It’s extraordinary that I collect photographs because I don’t like being photographed,” Elton told the BBC. “I find it really painful.” He adds, “I would never put myself up on the wall [at home], no thank you.”

Furnish laughs, “The paradox of someone who appreciates and has a sophisticated eye for photographs yet cannot stand to be photographed is not lost on me.” There are two photos of Elton in the exhibit, but they’re more irreverent and don’t show him performing.

The exhibit, called Fragile Beauty, includes images of everything from the Civil Rights Movement and AIDS activism to 9/11 and the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Noting that the exhibit includes “a lot of pain and grief,” Elton explains, “Sometimes in tragic images, whether it’s paintings or photographs, there’s a lot of beauty. And that’s why the show’s called Fragile Beauty, because there’s beauty in everything.”

Elton says he was “absolutely blown away” to see his collection on display, because he hadn’t really gotten a good look at a lot of the photos he owns.

“You buy photographs and they go straight into storage,” he says. “And a lot of them I haven’t seen hung properly or hung at all. And so walking through, it’s been hung so beautifully and the different sections and wall colors. I couldn’t be happier.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.