© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
Tell us about where you grew up. What kind of place it was?
MP: I was born in Athens (Greece) and grew up in Sitia, Crete; a small town of 10.000 people located in the northeast edge of the island. It is a beautiful place where agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy, mainly olive tree cultivation. Here, everybody is a part-time farmer in addition to their full-time job.
And then photography. How it all started? What are the memories of your first shots?
MP: When I was young, my parents, both being sea crew members at the time, used to embark on long trips together resulting in me growing up with my grandparents. In 1988, as an attempt to leave the sea, they opened a film-processing shop. It was during the summer of that year when I first encountered the world of photography. I was 10 years old and charmed by all the cameras, the materials, the smells. I asked my father to show me how his camera worked. It was a Pentax 35mm with a 50mm lens. I went for 1-2 hours walk and shot a 24-frame film, which I have kept until today. The portrait of the injured pelican who had somehow ended up in our town was my best picture.
What about your educational background? How do you relate to this? Any takeaways? Any meaningful courses? Any professor or teacher you remember well?
MP: Because of the financial difficulties my family was facing, there was a need for me to help them with work from early on. During summer vacation I used to do photo shootings for marriages and events, develop films. I was making money using my camera since I was 14. After high school, I studied at Leica Academy of Athens which primarily focused on technical training and I worked with fashion magazines for a short while. The turning point of my relationship with photography took place in 2010 when I joined the inpatient rehab program of "18Ano" as I had been a drug addict for 10 long years. 18Ano's photography team was magnificent; it exceeded all my expectations. The therapists helped me rediscover myself as a photographer, separate using photography as a way to be creative and express myself from using it as a tool at work, and become comfortable with criticism. I think that without that experience I wouldn't be the photographer I am today.
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
What do you think about photography in the era of digital and social networking? How is the language evolving and impacting the daily life of people and communities in your opinion?
MP: Internet and social media have helped. The fact that I am conversing with you about a publication that includes the work of photographers from all around the world alone, is proof enough. Artists that don't live in major urban centers like London, New York, Berlin, have now the ability to communicate their work more equally thought them. We have access to the global photography community. Also, the fact that a viewer may find contemporary photography through social media, even by chance, is positive for both him and photography itself.
Running yourself a photo lab how do you relate with fast interconnections and instant sharing. How this affects your own practice?
MP: One of the reasons I use films and medium format cameras for my personal projects is because it helps me escape the speed of digital image and reminds me that there is no customer or money involved. There is not a single image of Infinite Perimeter at my Lab. Similarly, there is no sign of my professional work at home. It's like they are two entirely different worlds that balance each other.
About your work now. How would you introduce yourself as an author or described your personal methodology?
MP: I like it when what I am watching or hearing or reading is multidimensional. Metaphors, correlations... When I was young they had convinced me that those who don't understand the language of mathematics are stupid. Luckily I realized relatively early they were wrong.
Can you introduce the series 'Infinite Perimeter' that was shortlisted for Urbanautica Institute Awards 2019. What are the basic motivations and assumptions of this long term project?
MP: It started back in 2014 and will be over in 2019. While all the images were taken in Crete, 90 percent of them within 10 kilometers of my home, this is neither documentary photography nor a series about the economic crisis in Greece specifically. Rather, it's about the instability permeating the western world today. This series looks at a decade of sociopolitical unrest.
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
Catalog Urbanautica Institute Annual Awards 2019
The project is made in Crete. An island with a long history of civilization testified by several archeological layers. I always thought that this deep stratification of settlements, ruins, signs combined with the morphological isolation (being a piece of land in the sea) and being a cultural hinge between Europe and the Middle East. How do you relate to the history of your landscape?
MP: Crete embodies all that you mentioned. They are some of the main selling points to the millions of tourists that visit the island every year. However, across my region, the most imposing building, in my opinion, is neither the Venetian castle nor the ruins of the Minoan civilization. It's a colossal husk of a building; a seaside hotel whose construction was abandoned midway.
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
A bulk of concrete that will remain there for me and the future generations to inherit. What I mean is that the landscape is being shaped differently during the last century and the resulting image says a lot about the culture and the influence of capitalism. Crete's landscape helped me create images that wouldn't look out of place anywhere else. That's one of the sentiments I wanted to convey.
In the statement, we read that Infinite Perimeter is a «project about human identity as it exists within the current stage of capitalism»...
MP: Capitalism is the same, though it keeps adapting by finding ways to permeate deeper into societies. At times, it takes a lot, at other times little, and on occasion everything. As we move through generations, and time passes people are becoming accustomed to the situation, which furthers its consolidation. We can see how money and the power it secures are being glorified, while the fear of losing it has intensified. When money becomes the main objective in the system of values, everyone and everything revolves around it. Enterprises, states, people... Thus, within this concept, it is reasonable for a politician, a judge or a government official to desire more of it and for private organizations and companies to offer it in exchange for their ''services''.
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
Moral restrains and honor have become old remnants of a time when people had a different relationship with money. They are on their way to extinction and that is why I referred to it as a stage. Those fragments of moral fiber against money are very interesting. Still, it is easy to convince someone that capitalism is bad and inhumane. The hard part is to persuade them to do something about it. With democracy already dead, and those in control of the economy willing to use any necessary means to protect their assets, the situation seems irreversible. I used Koch's fractal (Koch snowflake) to describe schematically what I mentioned above. A closed form that creates the illusion of being open. A finite area contained in an infinite perimeter... A paradox. A fence that keeps people out... Out there...
While landscapes reflect disorientation and a cold mood I find a lot of hope, empathy, and humanity in the portraits of people. I see beauty as well at a deeper level. Tell us more about the people in this "infinite perimeter".
MP: It was meaningless without people. I searched for them, some I met by chance; travelers, immigrants, locals, friends... I approach people using my instinct, with no guarantees. I have a little story to tell here actually... About an image that depicts two men, one 70 years old, the other younger, that stand on the shore. I have heard various guesses at presentations of my work. About them being a father with his son, or maybe them representing time; the future and the past. Those estimations are valid, as the interpretation of the images is up to the viewer. Still, the truth is that the older man is an Italian tailor from Sicily that spent his life tailoring suits for the New York mafia during the 70s and 80s, and the other a young local man. They are a couple in a place too small to contain their relationship. One of them died recently.
© Michalis Poulas from the series 'Infinite Perimeter'
Three books that you recommend...
MP: I don't read a lot. Mainly because when I do, I choose heavy stuff that affects me a lot, even haunt me.
'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Pirsig, 'The Burning Light' by Kostas Varnalis, 'The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater' by Ralph Eugene Meatyard.
Is there any show you've seen recently that you find inspiring?
MP: For two years now Med Photo Festival is taking place in Crete. It is a commendable effort that has brought us in contact with artists from many European countries and seems very promising.
What are you up to ??
MP: I would love to work more on my projects but having two kids my time is limited. I have started something new, closer to documentary photography, using both films and digital cameras. The subject is the same, but the storyline is more specific. I would also like for Infinite Perimeter to become a book and be presented somewhere in its entirety.
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