we are the dead

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Nicki Panou, Greece
• Website
  http://www.nickiupstairs.com
• Instagram
  nickipanouphotography

With George Orwell’s 1984 in mind, I created nine images that resemble a nightmare. The protagonists are not part of Orwell’s universe; instead, they act inside a non-place and non-time. These nightmarish snapshots use symbolic and surrealistic elements, to describe the struggle against the oppression of personal freedom, with an uncertain outcome.

It is up to the viewer to seek the connection with themselves, the present and reality.

Nicki Panou is a self-taught photographer and digital artist based in Thessaloniki, Greece. With a background in applied informatics and a master’s degree in graphic arts and multimedia, she also studied acting at the “Parathlasi” theater workshop.

Active in photography since 2013, she has participated in numerous exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Her work has earned international recognition, most notably the 1st Prize in the Self-Portrait category at the 24th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards (2024).

Awards Bronze, Prix de la Photographie Paris 2025

Category Winner, 24th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2024, Self Portrait Non Pro

Honorable mention, Mythography Vol. III 2023, Exhibit Around

Nominee, reFocus World Photo Annual 2023

Honorable mention, Budapest International Foto Awards 2021

Bronze, Prix de la Photographie Paris 2021

Nominee, Fine Art Photography Awards 2021

Honorable mention, ND Awards 2020

Honorable mention, International Photo Awards 2020

Honorable mention, Prix de la Photographie Paris 2020

Nominee, Fine Art Photoraphy Awards 2020

1st place, "The old han, a live space" contest, Photography Center of Thessaloniki/Bensousan Han/Lavart, 2018

2nd place, IEK ESP contest, 2017

Portfolio contest, Photometria Festival, Ioannina, 2015