Intemporality
Time gives us direction. It gives us a comprehensive understanding of our lives in a measurable way. Its irreversible nature forces us to always look ahead more than we look back. Time also allows us to heal but also forget.
Since the first years after the war when the slogan “I do nοt forget” was born in an effort to solidify the population’s feelings at the time, Cyprus has slipped out of time. In trying to put a break on time’s deathless path Cypriots cling to the past as a reassurance that nothing cannot be undone. Intemporality is a way of life in Cyprus.
As a Greek Cypriot, documenting my homeland was a test and a challenge for me. After the Turkish invasion of 1974 the North part of the island – a rogue state only recognized by Turkey – has been slowly transforming itself into a new reality. The influx of Turkish settlers has created an even deeper schism between the two sides. Newly constructed roads, and newly erected settlements are a small testament to the permanence of the situation. Life on the island has “settled” in a new way of life and a feeling of acquiescence permeates the air. Each side North and South leaning on their cultural roots as a means to passively fight each other.
This journey was my attempt to understand my roots in a country from which I sometimes feel close to and sometimes feel alienated from. A journey of desperateness, or perhaps a journey of reconciliation, either way, in the end I let go of my inhibitions and sought for nothing in particular but ‘aimlessly’ let my voyage become my project.
Bio
Alexandros Demetriades was born in 1967 in Nicosia, Cyprus. In 1984, Alexandros moved with his family to the U.S. He later completed a BA in Business and Economics, and an MBA in Finance and Investments at the George Washington University in Washington D.C. In 1996, he formed a cross-disciplinary design firm, where he acted as Creative Director. In 2009, Alexandros studied cinematography at New York University. Upon graduating, he returned to Cyprus to commit to photography professionally and embarked on a personal photographic journey documenting his homeland for a period of more than two years. In the meantime, he also traveled to the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa covering both newsworthy events but also personal projects.
He has received numerous awards, including from B&W Magazine, International Photography Awards, Photo Annual Awards and Sigma Annual Photography; in 2012, he was nominated from the Terry O’Neil Award. In 2013 he was a finalist at the ONWARD Compé awards, won a Gold and Bronze at the Prix de la Photographie Paris (Px3) for both his work “intemporality” and the “Color of Scars”. He also received awards at the San Francisco International Awards, the Fotovisura Grant awards and the City Streets Country Roads awards sponsored by PhotoPlace gallery . He was also one of the five winners of “My story” at the New York Photo Festival.
His work has been published in the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The New York Times Lens Blog, Leica Fotografie International, B&W magazine, Vervephoto: a new breed of documentary photographers, The Cyprus Dossier 05: Collabo-Nation! An issue about collaborative living in times of crisis, distributed in Cyprus and Venice as part of the 2013 Venice Biennale.
