Φωτογράφος Vasilis Liappis

—Πρώτον και κύριον – ποιόν μπορείτε να ονομάσετε ως τον καλύτερο φωτογράφο στην πόλη σας; :)

—There are many talented wedding photographers in Greece, and in Athens particularly. Not trying to be politically correct, it is just the truth. I have to pick from so many. One of my favorites is Aristotelis Nikolaides.

—Έχετε φωτογένεια;

—I am very photogenic, especially behind my camera!

—Πώς ξεκίνησες να ασχολείσαι με τη φωτογραφία;

—I started as a photography student, back in 1998, working at the same time as an assistant in a commercial studio. Since then, I have tried and worked in many genres of professional photography industry, with the latest being the wedding photography, which I practice for more than 6 years now.

—Ποια είναι τα πιο σημαντικά στοιχεία μιας καλής φωτογραφίας κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—Less is more, first and foremost, and secondly, a good communication of feelings from the subject.

—Σας αρέσει να ταξιδεύετε;

—I love traveling and always looking forward to it. If I can achieve traveling and work, I'm a happy man!

—Τι σας αρέσει περισσότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—Connecting with new people, couples and professionals.

—Τι σας αρέσει λιγότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—The weight of equipment I have to carry around

—Ποιο θα είναι το μέλλον της φωτογραφίας;

—I believe that as photography evolves, so do professionals. So, that being said, I see more professionalism and lots of beautiful and unique images!

—Τι το ιδιαίτερο υπάρχει στο φωτογραφικό είδος στο οποίο εξειδικεύεσαι;

—Communication with ordinary people, like me will be the first thing, and the second one is that for a special day in people's lives, I become part of that day!

—Πώς αντιμετωπίζετε την κριτική;

—I love criticism in a polite manner. Always makes things evolve in a better way.

—Υπάρχουν τάσεις στη φωτογραφία;

—Trends come and go, but a good photo is always good, no matter how many years pass.

—Με ποια κριτήρια θα πρέπει ένας πελάτης να επιλέγει φωτογράφο;

—First of all, I believe that both parties should have some common ground. Besides the budget and services provided, the photographer and the client should get along well. That is the first thing I tell my new clients, when I get a request for a booking. I like to meet them first, and if we get along well, from the first meeting, then everything else is doable. Of course, quality of services provided, professionalism and discretion play an equally important role in choosing a photographer.

—Ποια πράγματα δεν επιτρέπονται σε καμία περίπτωση κατά τη φωτογράφηση;

—Not to be distracted by anything, not to be rude to anyone, not to be nervous or anxious by any circumstances that may occur.

—Ποιες λεπτομέρειες που συνήθως περνούν απαρατήρητες μπορεί να παρατηρήσει ένας φωτογράφος;

—Reactions of guests in a wedding, beautiful light (reflections, backlight, sidelight etc), shapes and all kinds of things that can form a good composition for a photograph.

—Τι επηρεάζει την αξία της φωτογραφίας; Ποια στοιχεία;

—How interesting the subject is, what makes it pop inside the photo, which are the secondary elements that help the subject, and of course the quality of light used.

—Ποιο πρόσωπο αποτελεί το σύμβολο του 21ου αιώνα κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—The common man, you and me.

—Ποιον θέλετε να φωτογραφήσετε;

—I want to take photos of my girlfriend, just because she never lets me!!! The most difficult subject I ever met, lol!

—Έχετε επαγγελματικά ταμπού;

—I always, always arrive at least half an hour earlier than agreed, always deliver earlier than agreed as well.

—Με ποιους σας αρέσει να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—I would love to shoot with George Pahountis, a fellow Greek photographer, with whom I have the same origins as well. Island of Karpathos that is.

—Τι σας ανησυχεί και γιατί;

—I worry much about intolerance, because that makes people hateful, and in history the examples are more than enough that show where this has brought mankind.

—Ποια ήταν η πιο εντυπωσιακή στιγμή στη ζωή σας;

—The first time I traveled by my self. I loved the feeling of freedom to chose what I'd do next. It was also a good chance to discover myself and to think deep about many things that concerned me at that time.

—Εάν ήσασταν ένας λογοτεχνικός ή κινηματογραφικός χαρακτήρας ποιος θα θέλατε να είσαστε και γιατί;

—As a child, I loved reading a comic series, named "Lucky Luke", by a Belgian artist Morris. I loved the fact that he was efficient no matter the circumstances he had to face each time, he was lonely with a horse as his only friend, and always, riding towards the sunset as a lonesome cowboy.

—Τι σας εμπνέει στη ζωή σας και γιατί;

—My recently gone Father, because he was a fighter, nothing was given easily to him in life, but he gave too much to me, nevertheless.

—Ποιος είναι ο ορισμός της επιτυχίας; Πώς μετριέται η επιτυχία;

—Success for me is doing something that people appreciate. I am happy if the people I work with are happy. Money is important of course, but as long as I get along, I don't mind that much. I'm a simple person, living a simple life. No fancy lifestyle here.

—Είναι προτιμότερο να είστε αρεστός ή να σας σέβονται;

—I prefer to be respected, not only because it is more difficult, but because it is more substantial in my opinion.

—Ποιο είναι το μεγαλύτερο σφάλμα που έχετε κάνει ποτέ στη δουλειά σας;

—I gave too much of my effort, without being appreciated.

—Όταν πρόκειται να ταξιδέψετε, τι παίρνετε μαζί σας και γιατί;

—A cell phone, my camera equipment and a pair of good walking shoes, because all I do is searching online where is the next interest point for shooting, and then I go there on foot, just not to miss any parts of my way there.

—Σε σχέση με τον εξοπλισμό που σας ανήκει, υπάρχει κάτι που εύχεστε να μην το είχατε αγοράσει. Γιατί;

—I'm not a compulsive buyer, so, everything I buy is for a reason, and being used.

—Πώς εκπαιδεύετε τον εαυτό σας για να μάθει να παίρνει καλύτερες φωτογραφίες;

—I love watching webinars and of course study other photographers work, either on social media or other platforms. Through the years I discovered that being interested in more than one genre in photography, keeps me motivated, and I certainly am not fatigued by my work.

—Ποιανού δουλειά σας έχει επηρεάσει περισσότερο ως φωτογράφο;

—When I started, I loved Edward Hopper's paintings. Victor Lax is one of my favorites, but I also admire and being influenced from many other styles as well. Lately I admire many Scottish photographers, because of the dark and moody pictures they make, in such dramatic landscapes. I really wish I could visit Scotland one day!

—Τι εύχεστε να γνωρίζατε όταν ξεκινήσατε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—That it's not that easy as it seems. It is an art, and as such, it takes a long way to master the craft, lots of patience, exercise, and many different aspects that you need to learn and exceed to.

—Τι θέλετε να πείτε με τις φωτογραφίες σας;

—I want to bring out a positive feeling, sometimes surrounded by a much darker mood. Only to emphasize that there is always hope in the end of the tunnel.

—Τι σας παρακινεί να συνεχίσετε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Every photo is different than the previous one taken. That only, is enough not to make me bored of what I do.

—Οι γονείς σας θα έπρεπε να είναι περισσότερο ή λιγότερο αυστηροί;

—I think they raised me to be a good person, so I think they made a pretty good job in terms of strictness.

—Εάν μπορούσατε να πάτε πίσω στο χρόνο, τι θα κάνετε διαφορετικά;

—I definitely would like to have studied more, in a university, far away from my city.

—Τι πιστεύετε για τη ζωή σε άλλους πλανήτες;

—Who am I to answer such kind of a question? I believe it's possible though.

—Ποιοι είναι οι ήρωες σας;

—Every day people are my heroes.

—Για ποιον δεν έχετε καθόλου σεβασμό;

—Mostly politicians, but just to be safe don't want to name any lol!

—Τι κάνετε στον ελεύθερο χρόνο σας;

—Landscape photography is my no.1 hobby. Besides that I love swimming and being near the sea in general.

—Ποια πλευρά του εαυτού σας δεν βλέπει ποτέ το κοινό;

—I'd rather not answer LOL!!!

—Πότε είστε τελείως ικανοποιημένος με τη δουλειά σας;

—Once I get feedback from my clients. Until then, I always am anxious and uncertain.

—Πιστεύετε στους παραδοσιακούς ρόλους για τους άνδρες και τις γυναίκες;

—I'll say just this one sentence. I'm the king in the kitchen.

—Κάνετε εύκολα φίλους;

—Friends with the real significance of the word, no, but I love to interact with new people all the time.

—Που θα θέλατε να ζήσετε;

—In a Greek island, surrounded by the sea.

—Ποιο είναι το πιο ανόητο πράγμα που έχετε δεχτεί ποτέ να κάνετε;

—I agreed to drive in a remote and full of turns road, after a wild night out, and just a day before I give my driving license tests.

—Υπάρχει ζωή μετά το γάμο;

—If there's a will, there's always a way. So, my answer is yes, of course.

—Έχετε ένα αγαπημένο ανέκδοτο; Πείτε το μας.

—Knock knock....

—Συμπαθείτε τα σκυλιά ή τις γάτες;

—More of a dog person here.

—Ποιον ή τι μισείτε;

—I hate arrogance and intolerance. Two of the worst characteristics in my opinion, a person could have.

—Το καλύτερο πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—Life by itself is a miracle. But besides that, all the things you get to learn, see, live, feel, laugh for or cry for... Life is good!

—Το πιο ενοχλητικό πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—Getting up very early in the morning... :-P

—Υπάρχει κάτι γύρω σας που θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε;

—Yes, traffic jams...

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον εαυτό σας;

—I would like to reduce my stress levels.

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον κόσμο;

—Hatred of any kind is the thing I would eliminate, if I could.

—Μπορείτε να δώσετε μερικές συμβουλές για τους φωτογράφους που ξεκινάνε να φωτογραφίζουν;

—Never give up, never listen to people who tell you that you are not the right person for such a job. Persist and love every moment of what you do.

—Εάν έρθουν εξωγήινοι στη γη και είστε ο πρώτο άνθρωπος που συναντήσουν, τι θα τους πείτε;

—Let me take a picture of you! I know it's a cliche, but who's that photographer that would miss that kind of chance, right?

—Εάν σας ζητήσουν να γυρίσετε μια ταινία, τι είδους ταινία θα είναι;

—I like Dramatic films

—Αύριο θα πάω και θα κάνω...

—HIKING!!!