The Arab Spring held the key to a brighter future. After the initial wave of euphoria
reality began to settle in. Despite hard earned democratic freedoms promised by the new
rulers and in some cases the old ones, the hard truth is that the economic burden has
increased for most and reverberations from the events can still be felt all around
disrupting the tranquility of the region every so often exasperating an already delicate
balance of life. Where people stood united to fight a common enemy has splintered into
different voices with different ideologies. Where people had hopes, disillusionment has
permeated their daily lives. What at first felt like a cause to fight for has become an
undesirable way of life for others unsure on what the next day will bring. What I
experienced was a world filled with color but not the colors of joy but the colors of scars.
Walking by these people, focusing them in my viewfinder, looking into their faces one
could not but see that their hope of a better life was slowly fading away. I fell in love
with images that I unsuspectingly saw floating between layers of reality. This world of
color was to me as intoxicating and captivating as it was woeful and tragic. The
revolution bought new roles and new identities for different people. People and landscapes
took on new meanings and a new preponderance in the eyes of the world. As events were
churning all around me I saw ordinary people in battle between trying to maintain a
normalcy of life and at the same time fight for a better future. I tried to color the
inner soul of a changing world.
I was born in 1967 in Nicosia, Cyprus. In 1984 I moved with my family to the U.S where I finished high school. I attended the George Washington University in Washington D.C where I received a BA in Business and Economics and later on an MBA in Finance and Investments. I spent a few years in the financial world before forming a multidisciplinary design firm in 1996 acting as the Creative Director designing across a wide range of disciplines. My interest in photography started quite early. During the beginning years I reveled in the new and unexpected photographic language that I had discovered through books and the internet. In 2009 my love for light motivated me to study cinematography at New York University. Upon graduating I returned to Cyprus and embarked on a personal photographic project: Cyprus: Lost Identity. Documenting Cyprus was a test and a challenge for me. This self initiated project took me a little over a year to complete and was as much a photography project as it was a personal awakening. The factious political situation in Cyprus has always been overwhelmingly presented in a black and white manner depending on which side of the fence you were on. A position that has always brought out the skeptic in me. In remaining conscious of and understanding to all the realities I have also learned to reconcile my personal feelings about Cyprus. In the end however, I was left with a bitter sweet taste that things have been outstretched for far too long to believe that any good ending could emerge despite the genuineness of the people that live there. In 2011 and 2012 I traveled to Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. I wanted to experience the events first hand. However once there I fell in love with images that I unsuspectingly saw floating between the layers of reality. This world of color was to me as intoxicating and captivating as it was woeful and tragic. These in-between moments on the surface alluded to a normalcy and playfulness of every day life but at the same time hinted to a world that has still to find its place. From there I have also traveled to the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa covering both newsworthy events but also personal projects. My photographs have appeared on FotoVisura: Spotlight, Leica Fotografie International, Vision this World, B&W magazine, Private magazine, Vervephoto: a new breed of documentary photographers, Walldone magazine. In 2011 I received B&W portfolio merit award 2011 for my Cyprus documentary work.
