Vassilis Makris

File:Vassilis Makris.jpg

Vassilis Makris

Vassilis Makris (Greek: Βασίλης Μακρής) was born in Patras, Greece in 1958.

He started working as a professional photographer, in 1985, initially focusing on stage photography. In 1987, he visited New York and photographed various museums and historical buildings. Drawn by the subject, he switched his specialization to architectural photography and in 1989, started shooting private residences and interior spaces in Los Angeles, USA. It was then that he launched his long-term association with Greek and international publishing organizations. During this period he also photographed concerts by Vangelis in Athens, Paris, Rome and Rotterdam at the artist’s request.

2002 saw the publishing of his first coffee table photo book "Houses in Greece - Under the sun" Potamos Publishers, ISBN 960-7563-91-3 (Σπίτια στην Ελλάδα - Κάτω απ’ τον ήλιο) a collection of interiors from private residences throughout Greece. The following year he published the photo album "The Face of Athens" Potamos Publishers, ISBN 960-7563-99-9 (Το πρόσωπο της Αθήνας) , a photographic and architectural record of the city of Athens, in cooperation with journalist Nikos Vatopoulos, which was published in English in 2004, followed by a second edition in 2008.

In 2009, he represented Greece at FotoWeek DC (Washington DC, USA) with his participation in the ‘What Lies Beneath: Nature and Urban Landscape in EU Photography’ exhibition, along with 19 other photographers from Europe.

From 2005 to 2010, he taught various courses on the principles of architectural and industrial photography at the Leica Academy of Creative Photography in Athens.

Between 2010 and 2012, he was a member of the editorial team, chief photo editor and photo content manager of the op-ed web site protagon.gr.

He has been a member of the Greek Union of Film, Television and Audiovisual Technicians (ΕΤΕΚΤ-ΟΤ) since 1988, as a Still Photographer, and of PHOEBUS, the Greek Organization for the Collective Management and Protection of the Intellectual Property Rights of Photographers.

Currently he continues to pursue his professional career, working closely with the Onassis Cultural Centre - Athens, a new cultural space hosting event and actions across the spectrum of the arts, as well as the National Theater of Greece and the National Opera of Greece, photographing show rehearsals and performances, and supporting the arts and culture of a nation in crisis.

In June 2015 he participated in the 4-day "Light Up the Night" event at the Stavros Niarchos Park with a one-man show, presenting 16 photographs from the "Incarnation" project, a work in progress that will be completed in 2017 on the central stage of the opera house at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

In May 2016 he mounted the "Damni i colori...The making of" exhibition at the visitors center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC). The photographs depict the preparatory stages of Isma Toulatou's “Opera and Fashion” project, offering the public an opportunity to vicariously experience and take part in the rehearsals and backstage action of the project, which was presented on May 19 2016 at the Greek National Opera’s Olympia Theater.

References

• The first version of the article is translated and based on the article at the Greek Wikipedia (el:Main Page)

External links

• Makris's website
• Polaroid Portfolios of Vassilis Makris
• kAk magazine
• Cretan production of the album To prosopo tis Athinas (The Face of Athens), by Giannis Stathatos (Γιάννς Σταθάτος), periodical photographer, vol. 114 May 2002
• Cretan production of the album Kato apo ton Ilio (Under the Sun), by Tonia Makra (Τόνια Μάκρα), TO BHMA Newspaper, Jan. 2003
• Cretan production of the album To prosopo tis Athinas (The Face of Athens), by Angelos Delivorias (Άγγελος Δεληβοριάς), TO BHMA Newspaper, Apr. 2003
• BlueMagazine - of Aegean Airlines - Issue #57 - Jan. 2016 features Vassilis Makris’ ongoing photography project titled 'Incarnation' (p.100-117)