Eyes of the beholder

Beyond the lens

The law may have been defined by Aristotle as reason free from passion, but for lawyers-turned-artists, the clear stream of reason meets the passion for the arts in beautiful harmony. Photographer Ioannis Lykouris, who takes some of the spectacular pictures in the world, is a lawyer, and though his love for the camera has held him in its grip over the years, he has tackled subjects like civil and commercial law, e-law, contract drafting and union negotiation.

Right through his years in the University of Athens, Law School and the Université de Pantheon-Sorbonne in Paris, where he did his post graduation in law, Ioannis honed his skill as a photographer too. Today, he works as a lawyer in Greece, but when he is not working, he pursues his passion for photography and manages to run both his careers in tandem. He has already held more than 40 personal and group photo exhibitions in many countries in Greece and abroad, and he has held many prominent positions in International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) too.

Ask him where his love for photography began and he says he was inspired by his older sister who had a camera. “I remember getting interested in photography right from the age of 11,” he says and adds, “I was jealous of my sister and her camera. When I turned 12, I got my own camera, a Minolta. Later, I joined a photographic society called the Hellenic Photographic Society, to learn the ropes of the subject. I was the youngest member of the club at the time.”

A memorable start
The first picture he remembers taking was of a park near his home. “I took some pictures of the trees and bushes and I was proud when the photo was accepted by a salon.” That was the first of the many photographic achievements of his lifetime.

Ioannis specialises in landscape photography, but for the last three years he has been trying his hand at nude photography as well. His breathtaking photographs are like art, perfectly composed and impeccably captured. Whether it is a magnificent shot of wild terrain or a row of towering trees or a vast panorama of earth and sky, he adds his special skill to make each shot a masterpiece.

Ask him about his favourite photograph and his memories would take him back to Thailand. “I took a picture of a 90-year-old woman in Thailand, and it is, till today, one of my best pictures. I love the way the face was captured and sculpture of the age of the face that was portrayed in the photograph I took,” he says.

According to Ioannis, photography is a way of capturing something that cannot be expressed in words. He adds, “It is also the way I like to show people how I felt when I shot the picture. I love to capture the mood of the moment.”

Though he loves colour photography best, Ioannis has a special place in his heart for black and white pictures too. He explains, “Photographs without colour can be beautiful, but it all depends on the skill of the photographer who will need to elaborate a little. With black and white pictures, you can help people see beyond the picture. It is like art.”

During his student days in Paris, Ioannis would travel across Asia to take photographs. “At that time, I compiled the pictures into a book called Out of the Frontiers of Asia,” he says. “Sometimes, I create slides with music that I compose to go with my pictures. There are some pictures that have no story to tell. You might need several pictures to tell the story, and I like to do so with short multi-media presentations. I prefer to use slides with a bit of Buddhist philosophy and with my own music as the background score, instead of long descriptions of the pictures.”

He has a special affinity for Asia and he has visited countries like Thailand, Singapore, Burma, and the Philippines. He loves his visits to India too, where he has spent time in Rajasthan, especially in cities like Udaipur and Jodhpur. He also attended the Pushkar festival and took a number of stunning photographs during that period. He says, “I love the towns in India, and I find that you can actually smell them. I was once told that India is a country where you can use all the five senses, and I found it to be so true.”

Love for the rustic
Though he has been to many beautiful cities and lived in Paris, he is drawn towards rugged and rural terrain. He began doing nude photography recently and he finds that it needs great skill and a good trainer to teach you the art, because there is a fine line between obscenity and art that you cannot cross.

He is content with the new technology in the field of photography. “Earlier, film rolls were expensive, and the scope was limited. But today, with digital cameras, you can go on taking as many pictures as you want and then select the best,” he explains.
“I prefer digital photography as it increases your choices now. No two moments are the same and you need to take several photographs to get the perfect one. In any case, whether you use old or new technology, you need to know the rules of photography. You need to apply the same rules of the dark room, exposure, composition and everything else.”

Ioannis has also worked a lot on portraits and travel photography, and his works have been published in several travel magazines.

He has also won many awards and medals. In 1997, he was elected as FIAP liaison officer of Greece, and later he became one of the members of the board of directors. Some years later, he was elected as general secretary of FIAP.

He is often called in as a jury member in international photographic contests. In 2002, FIAP honoured him with the distinction of AFIAP (Artiste FIAP),
soon followed by the distinction EFIAP (Excellence FIAP), and finally by the highest distinction MFIAP (Master of FIAP) this year, for his artistic inspiration and work.

Ioannis has little advice to give young photographers because he believes that practice builds perfection. He says, “I would advise beginners to take as many pictures as they can. They need to study the subject and gain knowledge about it. They need to learn how to compose a photograph and how to control and manage light. Only then is it possible to take the perfect photograph.”