The new Acropolis museum was welcomed with great joy and pride by the greek people, not least because it seemed like a perfect way to tell the world (and particularly the British) â??weâ??re ready, give us back the Parthenon marblesâ??. The building, opened to the public in June 2009 spans over 14.000 square meters and exhibits almost 4.000 objects. Its transparent design â?? even the floors are made partly or entirely from glass â?? allows both the sunlight to come in and bring out the exhibits in all their glory, but also to tie the visitorâ??s eye to the surroundings of the Museum, namely the Parthenon that hangs over it. But this is not the whole story: with many of the original objects exhibited in various museums around the world (and most importantly, the Parthenon marbles in the British museum), there was a need for replication for many of them. This is what the current photo set conveys: the connection of the original monument to the objects exhibited due to the museum design, but also a contrast between the original and the replicated, the present and the missing, the truth and the illusion. General view of the museum which is based right under the Parthenon.
Nikos Pilos was born in Corfu, Greece, in 1967. He studied graphic arts and since then he worked with some of the most popular Greek dailies, like Kathimerini, Vima, Eleftherotypia and also in weekly magazines like K (published by Kathimerini) and E (published by Eleftherotypia). From 2001 and on he works with the international agencies Taiga Press (France), E-Lance (Germany) Sipa press (France) Zuma Press (U.S.A.).
Since his first assignment in Lebanon at 1988 and the coverage of Nicolae Ceausescu overthrow the next year in Romania, he has worked in countries like Yugoslavia, Albania, Macedonia, Georgia, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Pakistan, Israel-Palestine, Kosovo ,Iraq (where he spent 100 days unembedded ) ect.
Photos of his have been published in magazines like Newsweek, Stern, Focus, Bild, The Independent, Panorama, The New York Times, Washington Post, Herald Tribune, Sunday Times, Gente, Le Monde, Nouvelle Observateur, Spiegel etc. His work has been exhibited in ULISphotoFEST2007 in Istanbul, Turkey, Photokina in Cologne, Germany (2006), Photosynkyria in Thessalonica, Greece (2002, 2006), Gallery 55 (2005).,Athens photo festival 2007-2008, Tops â?? Word Photojournalism Festival China, 2008, Justina et pax Europa, European Council, Brussels â?? Belgium 2009, etc. In 2005 he was awarded (Special Mention) Unicefâ??s Photo Of The Year competition, for his work covering the earthquake in Pakistan and at 2007 first place NPPA Photo Editing Winners for the DOUBLEtruck magazine.
He is a founding member of the Greek Photojournalistâ??s Association.
