From July 9 to August 9, 2016 at the Branch of the HFC the Hellenic Photography Society (EFE) in collaboration with the Odessa Photography Association and “Photon-2” Photographers’ Club from Odessa will be presenting an exhibition of 51 works of 43 Greek photographers. In the autumn of this year, the exhibition of works by the Odessa photographers from the “Photon-2” will travel to Greece to be presented in the exhibition hall of the EFE in Athens and subsequently in other Greek cities.
The exchange of exhibitions shall facilitate establishing direct contacts and promote the works of photographers in both countries.
The collection of works by Greek photographers demonstrates styles and trends in the modern Greek photography. The EFE represents all kinds of photography providing photographers with the possibility to freely express their opinions and realize the principles of artistic without restrictions.
The exhibition will feature works of Anna Adams, Apostolos Alexiou, Efstathiathis Stathis, Nikos Gatsoulis, Dimitris Giavasis, Vasilis Gonis, George Guizaris, Spyros Iatropoulos, Machi Kakava, Andreas Kalavrouziotis, Thanasis Kalyvas, Christos Kamvrianis, George Kazazis, Kiriakos Kokkos, Dionysis Koutsis, Eva Lambropoulou, Ioannis Lykouris, Makrina Beletseli, Pelli Mandreka, Georgios Mitilinos, Zoi Boviatsi, Dimitris Ikonomidis, Kostas Panagias, Dimitris Paraskevakis, Stavros Pasiroglou, Roula Patra, Christos Pavlides, Ioannis Petrogiannis, Ioannis Robokos, Pandelis Sapounakis, Manos Sparis, Dimitris Thimianos, Spyros Thomas, Dimitra Triandafilou, Georgios Tsigkas, John Tsilidis, Giota Tsokoy, Evstathios Tsoulellis, Ioannis Vamvakas, George Vardakis, Lazaros Vasiliadis, Dimitris Zarafonitis and Christos Zorbas.
Organizers of the exhibition:
Kiriakos Kokkos, Curator General of the Hellenic Photography Society
Dimitris Paraskevakis, member of the Administrative Board of the Hellenic Photography Society, in charge of the international relations
The Hellenic Photography Society was founded in 1952 and functioned as the only communication platform for creative photographers of the 1950-1970s. The lectures in creative photography and national photographic contests organized by the society permitted maintaining the competitive environment and development of the art of photography in Greece.
The most prominent artists that played important part in the development of modern Greek photography include S. Meletzis, K. Balafas, D. Charisiadis, A. Ververis, D. Letsios, T. Tloupas, I. Apostolidis, M. Chrousaki, T. Tsagris, N. Blackbird, Ch. Tselios, V. Papaioannou, Z. Stella and P. Brousali.
The Hellenic Photography Society and its participation in the artistic life of the country and the development of the photographic art in the post-war Greece has been keeping the national photography in the avant-garde of the world’s creative photography for more than 60 years.
Under the editorship of the EFE from June 1954 till January 1993 there was continuously published the Greek Photography magazine, which contained important photographic works that have served as the point of origin for all contemporary researchers in the development of photography in Greece. After the publication of the magazine had been terminated, it was released in the digital format featuring an extensive content compiled in accordance with the modern standards of photography. The magazine is produced quarterly and distributed free of charge among members of the EFE along with the information on current news in the world of photography, the time schedules of all domestic and international events and the news from the International Association of the Photographic Art (FIAP).
Today the Hellenic Photography Society actively participates in the photographic events in Greece and beyond, promotes the development of photography at the international level by presenting Greece in the Biennale and other international exhibitions.
The society recently founded the International Photography Festival and continues organizing national and Balkan-scale photographic contests. It hosts the only shop in Athens designed specifically for making photographs.
Its members produce high-quality photographic works and present it to the Athenian public.
In addition, the EFE hosts lectures in photography and specialized workshops for amateur and advanced photographers and offers photographic tours.
The Hellenic Photography Society is a member of the International Association of the Photographic Art (FIAP), and since 1954 the EFE has been the only representative of Greece in this association.
Since September 2005 the EFE has been one of the 28 founders of the largest photography festival in the world.
The official website of the EFE offers all information on its history, the forthcoming events as well as general information of the FIAP.
The public organization Odessa Photography Association (OPA) was established in June 2002. Since then it has initiated and implemented many cultural and social projects of the local, national and international scale. These include:
Three international photographic exhibits The World around Us (2002-2004);
The 77 Angels charitable photographic project dedicated to the tragedy at the airport of Sknyliv in Lviv (2003);
The Victors international festival (2010);
The I Odessa Photography Festival “The entire Odessa is very large” (2011);
The II Odessa Photography Festival “Odessa speaking and showing” (2013);
Twelve Photograph of the Year exhibition contests (2003-2015).
The social project Unvanquished Odessa. The Heroes and Fates of the Beloved City, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Odessa from the German Nazi occupants and the 70th anniversary of the victory in the World War II.
The OPA is the co-founder and co-organizer of the Festival of the Photographic Clubs of Ukraine, which has been held annually in Ukraine for 11 years and presenting its exhibitions in the participating cities.
Among the members of the OPA is the Photon-2 Club of Photographers from Odessa, one of the oldest Ukrainian photography clubs uniting photographic artists known far beyond the boundaries of the country. The collection of photographs from the Photon-2 has always been top-rated at the Festival of Photographic Clubs of Ukraine. It is the collection of photographs from the Photon-2 that will represent the contemporary Ukrainian creative photography in Greece in November 2016.
The opening of the exhibition will take place on Saturday, July 9 at 17:00 in the exhibition hall of the Branch of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (Odessa, 20 Krasny Provulok, tel. (380) 482 357136
