Interview with Giannis Angelakis | MONOVISIONS - Black & White Photography Magazine

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2025

– How and when did you become interested in photography?

My interest in photography started in a very early age. My father worked at a newspaper and it was natural to hang around there. There was a “dark room” for developing films from stories that photographers covered for the newspaper. And at that early age the whole process seemed magical and captured my imagination. But it wasn’t until the age of 31, where because of my work as a journalist I bought a camera and started taking photos almost in a daily base.

– Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

Walter Evans, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, Saul Leitter, Robert Doisneau, Shirley Baker, Tish Murtha, to name just a few.

– Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

I like the simplicity of black and white. I think it helps focus on the subject.

– How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

It depends of what kind of photo we are talking about. There is always preparation before you start taking shots but depending on the shots you either have to act fast or you have to spend time waiting for the scene to evolve on what you want to capture. For example, when I cover news stories, there is not enough time to organise a shot but after taking so many shots it comes naturally to see frames that work better than others. Therefore, you have the idea of what you want before you take the shot and when it happens you know what you want to do. But there are other cases where you find a nice frame and you have to spend time waiting and observing. It depends also from the environment you are in. Sometimes it can be an advantage to work in environments that you know very well because you feel comfortable and you can push yourself to find new angles to explore a subject but other times it helps to be in new environments and letting yourself been drawn from all the new information that flows and how it connects with your experience.

– Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

I can’t see myself as a photographer who takes photos according to projects. There is an ongoing project of capturing daily life in the town I live in and then there is my work as a journalist. I hope that answers your question.

Website: www.instagram.com/angelakis_gianis