"Photographic pairs", Athens (Greece) 2019

The photos of Pavlos Kourkafas and Angelos Balatsas do full justice to the title of the exhibition series, “Photographic Pairs”, since, any meaningful coexistence is based on shared pursuits and deep spiritual kinship, but is nurtured by differences and fruitful juxtapositions.  

Although setting out from a similar array of themes as their starting point, the two photographers maintain their individual identity intact, demonstrating that each personal work constitutes not only a means of viewing the world but also, if not foremost, a portrait of its creator. Both appear to be of one mind that the unfamiliar, which constitutes the essence of photographic transformation, does not lie in the exotic but in the familiar. Thus, they share a fundamental artistic belief, abandoning the originality of the topic to pursue the uniqueness of gaze.

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The photos of Angelos Balatsas might initially trick us. At first glance, we recognize the conscious act of their adult creator. The seriousness and thoughtfulness of gaze, the revealing light, the strict geometry and overpowering composition, clearly bear out their existential implications. At second viewing, however, his images pulsate with warmth, tenderness and sensitivity. The photographer is imaginatively recomposing the world, illuminating its details and revealing its substance. Thus, through the expression of innocent joy and childlike curiosity the creative act becomes a celebratory affirmation of life.

Panos Rozakis
Photographer, exhibition curator