Alexandros Garnavos, born in Athens, studied painting in northern Greece’s Ioannina before joining Simone Bergantini’s studio in Milan and working next to painter Ignazio Gadaleta. He draws inspiration from his everyday life and his memories. The photographer explains that he maintains a diary-type relationship with his camera. He captures these instants that call out to him to share sensations that he would not know how to express with words. Painting and photography constitute an excellent language for someone who finds the use of words much more complex. With a touch of absurdity, he collects scenes available in a range of well-curated colors. There is an ambivalence between a softness and an offset vision that, without a doubt, reflects the photographer’s universe.
Alexandros Garnavos’ photos are endowed with his mischievous mark, an eye tinted with a gentle satire as shown in the series of hands which make their way everywhere. Disarticulated, pinching, clenched, or loose, the hands taken here are quite intriguing. The photographer explains that this obsession with hands started a year ago. At first, he photographed the hands of those close to him in places dear to him in his town. Then, he developed this approach during his trips. He remembers: “Instead of photographing places I was visiting, I was trying to capture hands in these same places. They are capable of creating and destroying. I find this ambivalence magical.” This method allows him to document the spot where he is at the exact moment through the prism of the most beautiful body part, according to him. This young, Greek photographer pays a beautiful tribute to hands, whose nobility is often forgotten.
Joséphine Faisant
Joséphine Faisant is an author specialized in photography. She lives and works in Athens, where she discovers local talents.
