Time Portraits - Photobiennale 2008

TIME PORTRAITS

Photography Centre of Thessaloniki participates in the concurrent programme of the 1st PhotoBiennale of the Photography Museum of Thessaloniki with the group photography exhibition "Time Portraits".

Artists: Diego Goldberg (ARG), Vassilis Karkatselis (GR), JK Keller (USA), Raj Nair (IND), Thanassis Pallas, Thodoris Tziatzios, Giorgos Chatzakis(GR)

Curator: Thanassis Raptis

Place: VLASSIS ART.COM Gallery

Duration: 15/04-15/05

Co-organization: VLASSIS ART.COM / Photography Centre of Thessaloniki

Photographic projects dealing with the issue of time through portraiture
are presented in this group exhibition, “Time Portraits”. It is about an
original production that attempts to explore some of the new
components in the art of photography as addressed by artists in the first
decade of the 21st century: new technological developments, new potentials
in accessing photography, and a global network at home to be used by everyone,
are the tools that stimulate changes in the creators’ means of expression.
Famous, celebrated Greek and foreign artists present,
each in his own way, how they face time and the traces left by the passage of time.

The exhibition is an original production attempting to explore some of the new components in the art of photography in the way this is dealt with by new artists in the first decade of the new century: new technological advancements, new possibilities when accessing photography and a world-wide network at home for use by everyone are the tools bringing about an alteration in the language of expression of the creators.

The Photography Centre of Thessaloniki has chosen works representative of these trends by well-respected artists, both Greek and foreign, who each on their own way deals with time and its passing and the markings it leaves not only on the body but also on the mind and the soul of man. The works are made up of visual constructions and installations, interactive multimedia presentations, video showings and of late internet-based visual explorations.

Diego Goldberg in his work “The Arrow of Time” presents pictures of himself and his family taken during the time spanning from 1976 to the present day while Raj Nair having stated the influence of Goldberg on him has been taking pictures of his family for the past seven years. We tracked down the photographers through the Stumblevideo website.

JK Keller in ''Living My Life Faster: 8 years of JK's Daily Photo Project'' takes pictures of himself everyday on the same spot for 8 consecutive years and projects these pictures like a movie with a rapid alternation of the images accompanied by music. The alternations in his facial expressions are impressive. We picked this photographer from the YouTube website.

Vassilis Karkatselis presents 600 portraits from the field of photography or plucked from obscurity. Our friends are a part of our own reality and so are their photographs. But whose reality is the fleeting projection of an image on the wall?

Yiorgos Chadjakis and Thodoris Tziatzios present their photographs in 3D video form using the techniques and aesthetics of the Matrix movies (the so-called “time slice” effect. The opinion that photography freezes or rather condenses time is quite prevalent. In this work, the moment is stretched to the “mythical” time of 8 seconds.

Thanasis Pallas presents the work “IMAGE” (The Image That Sees- Multimedia installation). The Spectator approaches an Image-Screen realizing that the Image represents his digital mirror-image and that within unfolding events faces such as his own appear.

Thanasis Raptis
Photographer- Curator of the exhibition “Time Portraits”