Minas Papadopoulos - photographer

, originally uploaded by minαs.

I thought I'd post this video by my friend, Minas, who is, in my opinion, one of the city's most innovative photographers.

Meeting up

Minas, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Last night I had the chance to meet up with some Flickr friends and it was great being able to chat, catch up on gossip and geek out about photography with people whose photography I really admire. So if you want to check their work as well click on the links below. Unfortunately, Yiannis is no longer displaying his stuff on Flickr.

Fragitsa

Minas

Zita Swoon By Minas

, originally uploaded by minαs.

This was taken by one of Thessaloniki's finest photographers, Minas. I freely admit to copying his style whenever I get a chance. This was taken at a Zita Swoon concert that he attended and which I unfortunately missed.

Dude by Minas

, originally uploaded by minas_of_the_north.

One of great things about meeting up with other Flickr users such as Fragitsa and Minas is that you can talk about pictures, photographers and influences to your heart's content knowing that the others are not going to enter glazed eye mode within 30 seconds.

The other advantage is that you can take endless pictures of each other without annoying the others. Geeky? Nerdy? Absolutely. But when you see results like this by Minas then who cares what others think.

Minas - at least that's what he told us

Minas, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Minas and Fragitsa

Last night I had the chance to go out and have a great time with Minas and Fragitsa, both of whom are wonderful photographers. It was great being able to chat about life, photography and Czech beer.

Minas - www.flickr.com/photos/minas_papadopoulos/

Fragitsa - www.flickr.com/photos/fragitsa/

Any similarity between this and Minas's work is purely intentional.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Charles Caleb Colton

Wiiliam Klein retrospective

Thanks to Minas I was able to catch William Klein giving a guided tour of his work.

"Klein, who has not had any formal photographic training, uses his camera to record action and to capture fleeting life. His exhibition in the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art will consist of stills from New York (1954-55), Tokyo (1961), Moscow (1959-60) and Paris (1957-today), fashion editorials and behind-the-scenes from Vogue, excerpts from the films Broadway by Light, Ralentis, and Contacts, paintings, film posters and his famous painted contact sheets. For the first time, Klein will present a series of previously unpublished photographs from Greece (1957 and 1963), having captured Melina Merkouri in the arms of Sir Peter Ustinov, ancient statues that seem to spring to life and everyday faces of the 50s and the 60s."

Click here for more details.

28th October parade - Part 1

, originally uploaded by minas_of_the_north.

Every year Greece celebrates the Greek dictator, Ioannis Metaxas's decision to refuse the entry of Italian troops into Greek territory. It is marked here in Thessaloniki and other cities with a military parade. See here for more details on Wiki.

I did take some pictures of my own but Minas's is far more evocative than anything I captured.