Franco-Greek TV and radio presenter Nikos Aliagas is more than that.
Franco-Greek TV and radio presenter Nikos Aliagas is more than that. Passionate about photography since an early age, he is currently showing his work as part of the Photo Docks Art Fair in the French city of Lyon.
It’s a collection of photographs of people, both ordinary and famous, whom he has met on his different journeys.
A photo posted by nikos aliagas (@nikosaliagas) on Sep 17, 2016 at 9:26am PDT
“The exhibition is called ‘The Test of Time’, because we’re all in the same boat,” says Aliagas. “Nobody can fight time. But there’s a sense of time that is much more secret, more spiritual and somewhat philosophical I hope, and it’s called ‘keros’ (in Greek). And it’s this individual time that I try to capture, each person’s dignity, their strength, what makes them unique,” he explains.
“When you take a picture it’s like leaving a signature, it’s your responsibility. Getting out your camera in front of someone is violent, you must first ask for their permission, it’s the least you can do. You don’t take pictures from afar with a zoom, I work with short focal length lenses, 50 millimetres, so there’s a dialogue, we talk, I try to understand their life, and if there’s something that moves me – because it’s all about instinct – I ask: can I take a picture of you? What I’m interested in is what he or she can’t tell me with words, to try and translate that through curves and light.”
Aliagas has a soft spot for hands. Among those he has photographed are the hands of French actor Gerard Depardieu or rapper JoeyStarr: “I love taking pictures of hands because you can change your face with plastic surgery or make-up, the way I do when I’m on TV, you can try and look younger, but your hands… you can’t change them. They will always be the same and they carry the weight of time, often they say what you don’t.
“I don’t take lots of photos, I don’t shoot like this… (he makes a paparazzi gesture). I get close to the person and if there’s a connection, I allow myself to take a picture. Photos are not judgemental, man is judgemental, man gauges. A picture will outlive a subject, but it never passes judgement, it throws you back to your own conscience,” he says.
‘The Test of Time’, a collection of photographs by Nikos Aliagas, is on show at the Photo Docks Art Fair in Lyon until October 9. You can also find them on flickr.com.