NIKOS ECONOMOPOULOS

Nikos Economopoulos is one of the masters conducting Magnum Caravan Brazil in his first destination:

Ouro Preto- MG Brazil  (March 29th / Abril 3rd)!

There is a lot of the Greek: his playful mood, brave mindset, the sharpness of thoughts reaching him emotionally first and then rationally. There is a lot of a master.  There is some admirable humbleness listening to him say that his transition from the BW  to color, it is still a practice of learning and playing…and trusting. trusting the things you can control.. as light , your camera settings, and background, but mostly and primarily… trusting your intuition. That requires another set of skills: patience, confidence, prediction, and time loosing.

So, if you are  wondering  what to expect from his mentorship program, the answer can prevail as simple in theory and proportionally challenging in practice, but lucky you it comes from a  territory where the challenges are so welcome and tickets for evolving , and that, in Nikos’ words, would be  :”bring out each photographer’s unique glance”.

So, if you are prepared to combine the pleasure of the freedom of a  journey with the confrontation of hard roads pointing out truths that make you recognize your way into your photographic approach without the impositions of objective journalistic dictatorship , to accept the adventure of photography being a personal intimate and subjective bridge between you and the world , and the link between your “voice” and the audience, to focus on the main points into that frame, escaping the usual expected  “bla bla bla” … Nikos is ready and onboard! Believe me…A perfect guide to push you and to stir the fire.

Magnum Caravan Brazil had a little coffee break with Nikos Economopoulos :

By Roberta Tavares

RT ) Nikos , it would be easier to associate you to BW photography knowing your primary works: Balkans, Kosovo refugees, Albanians, the irregular immigrants in Greece, Greek and Turkish relations, and how they embodied  sensitive concepts fueled in dramatic and meaningful reportage translation.  But, still when your name comes to mind, my imagination impulsively paints a canvas with imperative colors; those reds, greens, blues and black bodies. Jumping for an atypical comparison that occurs to me now, I feel Brazil is the same… this balance of colors overlapping the layers of “greys” .

So how do you paint Brazil yourself and which image defies you and touches you the most: The Brazil monochromatic in all its challenges, problems, tears, dramas, acceptance of its reality OR  the colorful happy seductive layers of Brazil bringing up such interpretations of overcome by some optimism focus? Which entices you the most as photography: the Battles or the resilience?

NE) Neither. These are both stereotypical extremes that do not hold much truth in my eyes. The tension between them, and even more, their co-existence within the same humble livelihoods are my own stock, what drives me. This is what creates the visual events that I am searching for.

 

RT) Colors, light, composition, journey, unexpected and everyday street photography. Common elements I’m bumping into when people depict your work…almost following down this same sequence and converging in some objectivity. We want your version…because if it is right that photography can be a journey to know better the world in order to know better yourself, how is that working for you? The things you learned about yourself and you want printed in your photography style?

NE) My answers to these questions can’t be expressed in words, they are contained or at least suggested in my photographs.

 

RT)I feel you so free out there, especially in the recent works you have been posting . Everyone wants freedom.

But do  you think that  freedom can be scarier than a photographer having an specific subject, assignment or commission?

NE) Anything done without freedom scares me much more.

 

Knowing better Nikos Economopoulos … check it out his photos clicking at:  Magnum Photos

and more of his history and philosophy clicking at :  Interview Nikos – On the Road

Apply for Magnum Caravan Brazil  clicking here