Cyprus has been a divided country since 1974 after the Turkish invasion. Greek Cypriots
live on the South of the island and the Turkish Cypriot live in the occupied North. The
two communities were formally the only two legitimate communities on the island, Turkish
immigrants however have since emigrated to the occupied North side thus changing the
island's demographics. A small number of surviving Greek enclave still reside on the
NorthEastern tip of the island. The border between the two sides has only recently opened
up in 2003 and many have made the passage to the 'other' side. An appearance of normalcy
permeates the air. Despite the realization that the country is slowly transforming itself
into a "new" reality the fact is that the people are trying to make the best of their
lives. Whether worn down by time or consciously trying to forget people seem to be walking
with their eyes wide shut clinging to their cultural roots as a way to enforce their
identities and to passively fight each other.
This self initiated project began as a search for my identity and was as much a
photography project as it was a personal awakening. This is my attempt to understand my
roots in a country from which I sometimes feel close to and sometimes feel alienated from.
My mornings would sometimes be filled with joy that the unexpected lay ahead and at others
with resentment that I would be confronted with the banality of the obvious and the
instantly recognizable. I was more interested in seeing than showing. A journey of
desperateness, or perhaps a journey of reconciliation, either way, in the end I let go of
my inhibitions and sought for nothing in particular but 'aimlessly' let my voyage become
my project.
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.
