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Light & Shadows-Political Views


Andonis Papandoniou - Light & Shadows-Political Views

In the press, photography can create news and press photography's primary aim is exactly that: "to make the news". However, the camera's lens can also supply us with a visual critique via the every day activities of a press photographer. It can point out unseen perspectives of political life and this in itself is also news.
The photographic series Light & Shadows - Political Views documents contemporary Greek reality over the past few years, focusing on changes and developments through depictions of key political figures. This photographic series isn't only a collection of political activities and the main stops of those who involved, but it also comprises the photographer's personal perspective on events, thus reflecting the particular interests and aesthetics of the press-photographer/creator.
Antonis Papantoniou's photographs are appealing because they not only document events and people, but also the photographer's stylistic traits. Papantoniou's photographic style combines subtle humour with an emphasis on capturing human gestures that are made within a split second (grimaces, awkward movements, unusual perspectives on people). In this way, political figures whom we are accustomed to seeing in carefully staged surroundings, photographed in inhuman or even superhuman situations, are approached in a manner, which makes an unusual commentary on the subject-matter.
These same photographs which have been published in the press, have often been unfairly dealt with there, due to the accompanying captions which focus the reader on one aspect of what is being depicted. In Papantoniou's portfolio, the captions have been taken away. In this way, the photographs may function as autonomous images that stimulate the viewer's eye and memory.

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