What’s it like to go around the world and explore every culture? Ever think about the rewards about being a professional photographer?
 

For one man, scenery is everything when it comes to exploring around the world including the meaning of history. 

In the latest edition, our feature explores the storied career of Andrew Pateras, a name synonymous with capturing the unspoken narratives of our time. Andrew’s lens has persistently focused on the raw, unfiltered essence of human experience, earning him not just a revered spot in the annals of documentary photography but also a collection of accolades, most notably the Lifetime Distinction of Honour for Photographic Achievement from the International Freelance Photographers Organization. 

His work has been and continues to be featured at many exhibitions worldwide. As Pateras’ work inspires both veterans and aspirants in the photography world, his legacy is a testament to the power of a single image to alter perceptions and foster empathy across the boundaries of nations and cultures.

Photography has been a passion for Pateras as his path started out as a hobby from a young age. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he was exposed to various cultures throughout his travel. 

“Photography started as a hobby. My dad had an old Nikon film camera that intrigued me. I always had a camera in hand,” said Pateras about photography got his interest. “My parents started my interest in travelling in some early trips across America and then to Europe (Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey). I then worked for a company called G Adventures which really made my travel addiction take shape.”

Travelling took his photography career farther above and beyond the limits that allow him to showcase his work, including places of interest.

No matter whether it’s a place of interest or a witnessing a natural disaster, photography spoke for itself. 

Pateras experienced Japan’s earthquake in March 2011 in Tokyo where he was ready to get a ticket inquiry to Nagoya where he was going to do scenery shoots. He described the earthquake where he was felling the ground shaking where he ran to a door as the buildings were shaking.

“The biggest fear initially was buildings falling down on top of me,” said Pateras describing the earthquake at the time. “When I saw how strong Japanese buildings were, my next worry was the Fukushima reactor going critical which was only about 100 miles away from where I was.”

This moment led to Pateras to have his name known about what he witnessed on the ground in Tokyo after an interview with Fox News.

Prior to witnessing the earthquake and afterwards, Pateras made his way to six continents capturing one of the most magical places including the famous marks in China and Greece.

His work showcases both landmarks and his interaction with the locals of what life is like both in a civilized and a tribal world in different continents.

“It taught me that there are billions of lives, each with a different story, different struggles and different happy moments,” said Pateras about his experiences around the world.

The Canadian photographer is of Greek descent who’s aware of his ancestorial history and culture.

“My own heritage is also one of the world’s oldest. I am of Greek descent, and I spend every summer in Greece, teaching my sons about their history and their culture.”

Pateras visits Greece every summer where he spends time with his family. He’s taken the opportunity to explore Greece’s historical areas of history that includes The Acropolis, Nafplio (which was once Greece’s capital), and Mycenae, an ancient Greek Citadel.

He was a guest speaker at the Hellenic Cultural Society of South Florida in his experience capturing Greece at Florida Atlantic University.

His work, whether it was Europe, Asia, Australia, or any part of the world, was to remind the public including, travelers, natives, and ancestors of what life is like those particular continents.

The view of culture and customs in different continent and regions that includes language, environment, and state of mind.

The fascination of different landmarks that includes the Great Wall of China, Petronas Twin Towers, Tiananmen Square, Niagara Falls, Taj Mahal, The Temple of Poseidon, and the Ancient City of Petra where Pateras has travelled exploring history.

“It taught me that there are billions of lives, each with a different story, different struggles and different happy moments,” said Pateras in his experience coming in contact with people from different walks of life.

Pateras’ interaction with people from different cultures has taught him the value of moments where everyone either has a happy moment or a time of struggle. Every culture has a different mindset and a different way of thinking especially in eastern and western cultures.

Photographs tell the story from a visual standpoint. The Canadian native’s photography work has captured the most notable landmarks around the world.

China’s Macau, which was once a Portuguese colony, is considered to be the Las Vegas of Asia with casinos having a European feel. The building had a Las Vegas vibe that also included casinos like the Wynn. 

Some areas in other countries didn’t always sit well with the locals as some had seen a camera.

“Because my favorite subject matter is people, I regularly had run ins with people that didn’t even like to see a camera. My time in the South China sea comes to mind. It was a very cool gate that had military guards in Sanya on Hainan Island in China,” said Pateras about the problems that he ran into abroad. “Alli di was put my hands on my camera around my neck and the guards started shouting and running towards me with AK47s at the ready.”

Some places didn’t always appreciate seeing a camera, where certain things would come to a misunderstanding.

Pateras’ experience with religious countries, such as Israel, where his work also encountered viewing Temple Mount, one of the most important sites in Israel.

The role of photography comes with many rewards and values going from place to place resulting in creativity.

World travelling is something that Pateras has been able to thrive as a photographer to capture the most monumental areas in the world.

What’s next for him in the photography journey?

“In the next 5 years< I plan to introduce my sons to more complex cameras and travel the world with them to give them similar experiences that my part rents provided me. We are planning a trip to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia) and another trip to Australia. These are in addition to our annual trips to Europe.”

Edited by Joseph Hammond and Newsdesk Manager

What’s it like to go around the world and explore every culture? Ever think about the rewards about being a professional photographer?
 

For one man, scenery is everything when it comes to exploring around the world including the meaning of history. 

In the latest edition, our feature explores the storied career of Andrew Pateras, a name synonymous with capturing the unspoken narratives of our time. Andrew’s lens has persistently focused on the raw, unfiltered essence of human experience, earning him not just a revered spot in the annals of documentary photography but also a collection of accolades, most notably the Lifetime Distinction of Honour for Photographic Achievement from the International Freelance Photographers Organization. 

His work has been and continues to be featured at many exhibitions worldwide. As Pateras’ work inspires both veterans and aspirants in the photography world, his legacy is a testament to the power of a single image to alter perceptions and foster empathy across the boundaries of nations and cultures.

Photography has been a passion for Pateras as his path started out as a hobby from a young age. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he was exposed to various cultures throughout his travel. 

“Photography started as a hobby. My dad had an old Nikon film camera that intrigued me. I always had a camera in hand,” said Pateras about photography got his interest. “My parents started my interest in travelling in some early trips across America and then to Europe (Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey). I then worked for a company called G Adventures which really made my travel addiction take shape.”

Travelling took his photography career farther above and beyond the limits that allow him to showcase his work, including places of interest.

No matter whether it’s a place of interest or a witnessing a natural disaster, photography spoke for itself. 

Pateras experienced Japan’s earthquake in March 2011 in Tokyo where he was ready to get a ticket inquiry to Nagoya where he was going to do scenery shoots. He described the earthquake where he was felling the ground shaking where he ran to a door as the buildings were shaking.

“The biggest fear initially was buildings falling down on top of me,” said Pateras describing the earthquake at the time. “When I saw how strong Japanese buildings were, my next worry was the Fukushima reactor going critical which was only about 100 miles away from where I was.”

This moment led to Pateras to have his name known about what he witnessed on the ground in Tokyo after an interview with Fox News.

Prior to witnessing the earthquake and afterwards, Pateras made his way to six continents capturing one of the most magical places including the famous marks in China and Greece.

His work showcases both landmarks and his interaction with the locals of what life is like both in a civilized and a tribal world in different continents.

“It taught me that there are billions of lives, each with a different story, different struggles and different happy moments,” said Pateras about his experiences around the world.

The Canadian photographer is of Greek descent who’s aware of his ancestorial history and culture.

“My own heritage is also one of the world’s oldest. I am of Greek descent, and I spend every summer in Greece, teaching my sons about their history and their culture.”

Pateras visits Greece every summer where he spends time with his family. He’s taken the opportunity to explore Greece’s historical areas of history that includes The Acropolis, Nafplio (which was once Greece’s capital), and Mycenae, an ancient Greek Citadel.

He was a guest speaker at the Hellenic Cultural Society of South Florida in his experience capturing Greece at Florida Atlantic University.

His work, whether it was Europe, Asia, Australia, or any part of the world, was to remind the public including, travelers, natives, and ancestors of what life is like those particular continents.

The view of culture and customs in different continent and regions that includes language, environment, and state of mind.

The fascination of different landmarks that includes the Great Wall of China, Petronas Twin Towers, Tiananmen Square, Niagara Falls, Taj Mahal, The Temple of Poseidon, and the Ancient City of Petra where Pateras has travelled exploring history.

“It taught me that there are billions of lives, each with a different story, different struggles and different happy moments,” said Pateras in his experience coming in contact with people from different walks of life.

Pateras’ interaction with people from different cultures has taught him the value of moments where everyone either has a happy moment or a time of struggle. Every culture has a different mindset and a different way of thinking especially in eastern and western cultures.

Photographs tell the story from a visual standpoint. The Canadian native’s photography work has captured the most notable landmarks around the world.

China’s Macau, which was once a Portuguese colony, is considered to be the Las Vegas of Asia with casinos having a European feel. The building had a Las Vegas vibe that also included casinos like the Wynn. 

Some areas in other countries didn’t always sit well with the locals as some had seen a camera.

“Because my favorite subject matter is people, I regularly had run ins with people that didn’t even like to see a camera. My time in the South China sea comes to mind. It was a very cool gate that had military guards in Sanya on Hainan Island in China,” said Pateras about the problems that he ran into abroad. “Alli di was put my hands on my camera around my neck and the guards started shouting and running towards me with AK47s at the ready.”

Some places didn’t always appreciate seeing a camera, where certain things would come to a misunderstanding.

Pateras’ experience with religious countries, such as Israel, where his work also encountered viewing Temple Mount, one of the most important sites in Israel.

The role of photography comes with many rewards and values going from place to place resulting in creativity.

World travelling is something that Pateras has been able to thrive as a photographer to capture the most monumental areas in the world.

What’s next for him in the photography journey?

“In the next 5 years< I plan to introduce my sons to more complex cameras and travel the world with them to give them similar experiences that my part rents provided me. We are planning a trip to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia) and another trip to Australia. These are in addition to our annual trips to Europe.”

Edited by Joseph Hammond and Newsdesk Manager

The following story originally appeared as an online exclusive on the W&M Alumni Magazine website – Ed.

At age 99, artist Willie Anne Wright ’45 is enjoying a surge of interest in the work she created during a career lasting more than six decades.

Two exhibitions of her artwork opened last fall, including a major career-spanning retrospective at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) in Richmond that continues through her 100th birthday in June. In March, William & Mary’s Muscarelle Museum of Art added six of her pieces to its collection — five photographs that the museum purchased and a painting that Wright donated. The Muscarelle team looks forward to having these works on view sometime after the museum reopens  in the fall following a renovation and expansion that will triple its gallery space.

For Wright, the Muscarelle’s acquisition marks a homecoming to William & Mary, where she first felt encouraged and taken seriously as an artist. She donated her painting “Self Portrait With Gus” to the museum in memory of fine arts professor and department chair Thomas Thorne, who taught at W&M from 1940-1975.

Known as Willie Anne Boschen when she attended William & Mary, she was not able to take art classes for credit as a psychology major, but Thorne thought highly enough of her artwork to include it in campus exhibitions. He also selected two of her watercolor paintings for a 1944 show of college students’ art at the VMFA.

“He made me feel like he had confidence in my talent,” says Wright, a Richmond native who is most widely known for her experimental pinhole photography. “It certainly put me on a path. To this day, I appreciate the recognition he gave me.”

Until the recent acquisition, the Muscarelle had just one piece of her artwork in its collection: a watercolor titled “Williamsburg House,” dated 1945, the year she graduated. Melissa Parris, the museum’s deputy director of collections, exhibitions and operations, says she became interested in Wright’s pinhole photography after seeing images in the 2019 W&M Alumni Magazine profile “Forward & Back.”

Over the past couple of years, Parris and museum director David Brashear HON ’07 met several times with Wright and her daughter, Anne, and the team at Candela Books + Gallery to look through her vast archive of photographs. While visiting Wright’s longtime home in Richmond’s Fan District, a large painting at the top of the stairs caught their eye — Wright’s “Self Portrait With Gus,” made in 1974, featuring three images of the artist in the front room of her house.

“She knew we liked it, and she kindly offered to give it to William & Mary as a donation after we committed to purchasing the five photographs,” Parris says.

The acquisition of Wright’s work advances two priorities for the Muscaralle: expanding its collection of photography and increasing the number of works by women. Besides pinhole photography, the acquired works include images made without a camera, such as cyanotypes or lumen prints made by placing an object on photo paper and exposing it to light. (View the full list with thumbnail images.)

“Willie Anne Wright is, in many respects, a pioneer in the realm of photography,” Brashear says. “Her pinhole photography, carried out using a pinhole camera she built herself, delivers a perspective unique to Willie Anne’s own eye. Her cyanotypes are inventive, and executed with precision.” 

Along with the late painter Lynne Drexler ’51, Wright is one of the best known alumni artists whose work is represented in the museum’s collection, Parris says. Drexler attended William & Mary but did not receive a degree; both she and Wright later studied art at Richmond Professional Institute, now Virginia Commonwealth University, under trailblazing artist and educator Theresa Pollak. Unlike Wright, who spent most of her adult life in Richmond, Drexler settled in New York City.

Eliot Dudik, an associate teaching professor of art at William & Mary who specializes in photography, says he is intrigued by Wright’s experimentation with materials and subjects, as well as the cameras themselves.

“The vibrancy and distortions she obtained in her color, direct-positive, in-camera pinhole works are mesmerizing, and match the firecracker energy of her personality,” says Dudik, who spoke to the museum’s acquisitions committee about Wright’s work. “Her unique and timeless approaches in experimental processes, collage and pinhole photography will continue to be big inspirations for William & Mary students long into the future.”

Gordon Stettinius, who handles sales of Wright’s artwork through his Candela Books + Gallery in Richmond, says he’s seen increased interest from collectors since her VMFA show, “Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist,” opened in October with 63 photographs and nine paintings. So far, the exhibition has attracted over 40,000 visitors, according to the museum. Candela spotlighted Wright’s work with its own show, “Conjuring the Composition,” in November and December.

Stettinius, who is preparing a portfolio of Wright’s work to take to a New York art fair later this month, describes her as a restless tinkerer and an unconventional thinker.

“I’ve known Willie Anne for over 30 years now and it warms my heart to see the attention she has been receiving for the breadth and depth of a truly impressive career,” he says. “When you consider the wide variety of processes she used and her investigation into unconventional materials, then add in her eclectic interests ranging from philosophy to mysticism to feminism and beyond, you cannot help but be impressed by an artist very much ahead of her time.”

Save the date: As part of William & Mary’s Year of the Arts, a May 7 event is planned at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, with a panel discussion moderated by David Brashear, director of the Muscarelle Museum of Art and special access to the Willie Anne Wright exhibition. A reception of hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be included in the 5:30-8 p.m. event, which is co-sponsored by the Society of 1918, the W&M Richmond alumni network and the Muscarelle. See the event page for details.

Tina Eshleman, University Marketing

A 9.5kg (21lb) ambergris stone, valued at more than €500,000 (£427.500), which was found in the stomach of a sperm whale on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. The whale was found dead on a beach in May 2023. The magazine Frontiers in Veterinary Science recently published the results of a necropsy that put the cause of death as toxic megacolon resulting from ambergris stone

Photograph: Iusa-Ulpgc Handout/EPA

I’m not sure if it’s the sexual component that catches my attention. Perhaps it’s some elements, especially snails, that evoke a sense of familiarity in me, but also nostalgia for something I can’t quite identify. There’s a call back to my childhood, and it’s precisely the snails that evoke it. They were my only playmates when I spent the summer in a remote mountain location, in my grandparents’ garden which after a storm became the perfect habitat for these small creatures, as slimy as they were curious. Back then, I would pick them up from their shells, place them on my arms, and let them slide over me, amused by the trail of slime they left on my skin. I didn’t know it then, but I was assimilating them. In fact, that’s exactly what Ivana Sfredda talks about in the photos she showed me a few weeks ago in her studio in Milan. Soak up is the title of the series still in work in progress that the Molisan photographer has been working on since 2022, or perhaps even earlier. Interpreting the Anglo-Saxon term “soak up” literally, it refers to the sensation of enjoyment perceived in the act of assimilation. A unique human and animal need, that of joining someone or something, of being connected, and of “annihilating the boundaries that delimit a body.”

Ivana Sfredda’s macro shots do not contemplate any subject hierarchy. A strawberry in a man’s mouth, a group of worms intertwined, a droplet about to fall from an old faucet, all appear one after the other in a carousel of images that dance hand in hand in a perpetual circle, without jerks or arrogance. Hand in hand, united, assimilated into each other, in the other. So that in the act of encounter between two bodies, there is no longer a “my body” and “your body.” The power dynamics that humans have built in the relationship between artifact and nature are nullified. Perhaps this is where my childhood memory fits in, where it is clear that in that space-time arc, I did not know of this imposition, and no construct had yet had time to settle in the logic that today exists in me, the inequality of man > animal or even more so, artificial > nature.

But there is something beyond this unconsciousness or yet uncorrupted consciousness. Ivana explains it to me by citing Mario Perniola, a philosopher, writer, and theorist of contemporary art, delving into the sexuality mentioned earlier. Because it is clear that in the union of two bodies there is a tension that moves them towards each other, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be laden with a pleasurable end. Perhaps it’s just an unconscious need to lose one’s original form?

«Perniola identifies in sexuality a point of suspension that he defines as neutral sexuality: the detachment from one’s own body that implies a sense of estrangement, cybernetic and indeed neutral. This erotic impulse detaches itself from the pursuit of carnal pleasure in function of an intense contact where the organic and inorganic body becomes a meaningful surface. A very powerful communication system that leaps beyond the categories of human/artificial, human/animal, animal/artificial – relative to being as such – which traces the fluid architectures of an alternative body.»

As explained by Ivana Sfredda, in the encounter with the other, the self feels fulfilled. This reminds me of a book I read some time ago when I was searching for a more conscious self. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle – found in the “esotericism” section of a bookstore – actually talked about this. It discussed how the self exists only in the reflection in the other, when the annulment of the ego occurs, which only defines the boundaries of a prison where a false narrative of ourselves lives. So, in Ivana Sfredda’s shots, which she explains to me are a sort of exercise and play, all this is visually translated, as if to illustrate the daily and widespread existence of continuous equal and harmonious connections between elements that seem distant both in a hierarchical and semantic sense.

«The series focuses on the meaning of contact and relational energy, an exercise in imagining how these incomplete relationships can represent profound portals of learning.»

Courtesy & Copyright Ivana Sfredda

‘I was surprised when Amica asked me about it,’ says the esteemed British photographer Martin Parr, recalling his fashion industry inauguration. ‘But I thought I will take on the challenge, and have never looked back.’ While today Parr shoots several fashion stories a year – from high-end brand campaigns and portraits to magazine editorials and backstage imagery – that first shoot in 1999, for the Italian women’s monthly, was the earliest example of Parr’s distinctive, oftentimes humorous, and aesthetic deliberately way of navigating the world of fashion.

Martin Parr: ‘Fashion Faux Parr’, published by Phaidon

Recently published by Phaidon, the joyfully titled Fashion Faux Parr is an exhaustive survey of the subsequent fruits of this relationship. High colour and boldly executed (it was designed by frequent collaborator Melanie Mues), the new fashion book serves to remind fans of how this unique partnership has played out over the past 25 years.

Alongside the well-documented campaigns for Gucci under former creative director Alessandro Michele – including the now-iconic image of a silver-haired sun enthusiast wearing bright white sunglasses at Cannes – is a queue of models pictured at New York’s famous Katz’s Delicatessen, part of a wider tourist-style portfolio commissioned by Vogue USA in 2018, and at Versailles, a backstage project for Jacquemus shot last year. Earlier street-led scenarios in Senegal, Cuba, Bristol and Broadstairs also feature, as well as accessories specials and British designer portraits.

While style has long been a core strain of Parr’s documentary work, organically acting as a signifier of a season, place, era or society, his fashion work more closely observes trends and particular moments, largely realised in tandem with art directors, stylists and beauty teams. ‘It varies,’ he notes, reflecting on the collaborative nature of the work. ‘With editorial fashion, you have more freedom and I enjoy bouncing ideas around with the art director. With commercial the script is pretty much established by the client, so it is a much tighter shoot.

‘I enjoy doing fashion and of course it brings in income, which helps me keep the foundation going,’ he continues, alluding to the Martin Parr Foundation, the gallery and archive space he opened in Bristol in 2017. ‘So my relationship [with fashion] is a good one.’

Indeed, while Parr maintains his own universe is very much still that of a documentary photographer – and it’s this work he’s best known for, as the designer Patrick Grant illustrates in the book’s introduction, identifying that he ‘takes pictures of old blokes staring at walls, socks and sandals, bottles of ketchup…bad weather and sunny tennis matches, Christmas dinners, chic interiors’ – the fashion world has been particularly positive of the match. Fashion Faux Parr might be his first fashion volume proper, but Gucci (which also collaborated with Parr on its Gucci ArtWalls series in 2020) and Louis Vuitton have also both co-signed monographs, and in 2005 Parr published a more tongue-in-cheek title, Fashion Magazine, in which he appeared on the cover.

As in his documentary work, there is plenty of charm and a certain richness in Parr’s fashion pictures; a particular warmth that gives the images, and perhaps the wider industry, a sense of accessibility, closely tied to his frequent practice of involving real people in his shoots. His approach is also often fairly straightforward – his perspective is what he offers – and he employs his surroundings to shape the narrative, rarely shooting in a studio. In previous interviews, Parr has spoken of the societal changes he’s observed in his decades-long career (mainly, the arrival of mobile phones), but what about the challenges he associates with fashion photography?

‘If there are a lot of models, it’s tricky to get everyone looking good and in position,’ he explains, relaying a hurdle similarly common to anyone instructed to take a family portrait. ‘You have to persist in shouting out instructions.’ Inevitably this perseverance pays off, and as the designer Tabitha Simmons remarks in the book, recounting a shoot day with Parr, he’s left ‘an indelible mark on the fashion industry’.

’Fashion Faux Pas’ is published by Phaidon, and available from phaidon.com now. Also available from waterstones.com

martinparrfoundation.org