Biography
Petros Kotzabasis was born and still lives in Komotini, a small town in the north of Greece, where he has taught photography since 2007, to students of the Democritus University of Thrace. He learned to take photos by standing on his family’s doorstep and making up stories about the people passing by in the street.
4 questions for Petros Kotzabasis
What is the one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning?
I take pictures every day, following the advice of my music teacher: “If you love something, let no day pass without it, and allow only death to keep you from it.” The truth is that I take no effort to make images. I feel the camera pull me by the sleeve and tell me go. There was a time, about a decade, that I didn’t take any pictures because I simply did not feel this internal motivation.
What is the longest trip you ever took to make a photo?
I never travel only to make photos, since I’m usually overwhelmed by new information and tend to drift into more documentary photos, which are not interesting to me. I usually photograph my neighbourhood and the people around me. By restricting myself to photographing the same things over and over, I can leave more room for the viewer to insert their own experiences and wishes on the image. That is also why I do not put titles or descriptions on my photos.
What was the hardest image you ever had to make?
There is no such thing as a hard image for me. All images exist within us
as entities awaiting the right moment and the appropriate stimulus to arise,
first within our own self and then on our camera film.
What is your favorite thing about being a photographer?
For me photography is an attempt to manage the inevitable human fear of death. As a result my photos are very personal and, in fact, are an attempt to investigate myself. I think of my photographs as a mirror that reveals my hopes and fears, my obsessions, my feelings. That is why I avoid using words to describe myself -- I prefer to let my pictures do that.
More photograph series by Petros Kotzabasis