Nikos Economopoulos (Νίκος Οικονομόπουλος, Nikos Oikonomopoulos, born 1953) is a Greek photographer known for his photography of the Balkans and of Greece in particular.
Life and career Born on Kalamata,Biography of Economopoulos, unnumbered page toward the back of Tōkyō / Tokyo Today (Tokyo: EU Japan Fest Japan Committee, 1996). Economopoulos studied law at universityAccording to his profile in Magnum Photos (London: Thames & Hudson, 2008; ), opposite pl. 17, Economopoulos studied law in Italy. A CV (PDF file) to accompany an exhibition notice at Fotodos, the profile at Magnum Photos (all accessed 1 December 2009), and the (unnumbered) biographical page at the end of Economopoulos: Photographer (Athens: Metaichmio, 2002) all say this was at Parma. None of these also mentions university in Greece. But according to Economopoulos himself in Magnum Stories (London: Phaidon, 2004), p.130, he "studied law at university at Athens"; he does not also mention university in Italy. and worked as a journalist.
Economopoulos only started taking photographs at 25 when a friend in Italy showed him a book of the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, which had an impact that was both instant and lasting. Cartier-Bresson "showed me a new way to see things. . . . What I saw in his work was not only geometry and composition, but a kind of ambiguity."Magnum Stories, p.130.
Economopoulos recalls that even then he did not start photography for over two years but instead bought photography books. Then he started photography:
I never photographed sunrises or made souvenir pictures of my children. For about eight or nine years I photographed at weekends and during my holidays, always in a serious way, working from morning to night.
As early as 1984, Economopoulos says, "it bothered me ideologically that Greeks and Turks were enemies", and he visited Turkey to take photographs. "No Greek at that time would go to Turkey on holiday", he writes, and his Greek friends were incredulous; but Economopoulos quickly felt at home in Turkey, where the atmosphere "was exactly the same as when I was a kid in the 1960s."Magnum Stories, p.131. (Much later, he would add that Greece and western Turkey had replaced tavernas with McDonald's, while east Turkey still preserved the values of the past.Refik Akyüz, Özge Baykan, and Serdar Darendeliler, "Balkanlar, Paradoks ve fotojurnalizm üzerine " (an interview first published in the magazine Geniş Açı in 2001), website of Özge Baykan, 2006. Accessed 7 December 2009.)
In 1988, Economopoulos finished work as a journalist and set off on a two-year photographic survey of Greece and Turkey.
Economopoulos was encouraged to join Magnum Photos by the Greek-American photographer Costa Manos, and became an associate member in 1990 and, after his work in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and the former Yugoslavia, a full member in 1994. His early work won him the 1992 Mother Jones Award for Documentary Photography.Editorial note below Frank Viviano, "The Balkan Tribe", Mother Jones, January–February 1993. Accessed 5 November 2010.
In 1993, Frank Viviano, who had first met Economopoulos in Timișoara just after the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu, wrote that:
Economopoulos says his intention is to document the existence of what he calls the "Balkan Man": to knit together the skeins of a collective identity in a region whose historical convulsions have made its name a synonym for implacable differences. It would appear to be a fool's errand. But almost anyone who has crossed the madman's web of frontiers and borders that stretches over the Balkans, from Istanbul to the Italian border, is likely to agree with Economopoulos's premise — and to recognize, in his work, the contradictions that sum up Balkan truth.Viviano, "The Balkan Tribe", Mother Jones, January–February 1993. Accessed 5 November 2010.
With support from the Little Brothers of the Poor, in 1994 Economopoulos photographed gypsies in Greece, and in 1995–96 lignite miners and Muslims in Greece. In 1997–98 he concentrated on people living on the "Green Line" separating Northern Cyprus, illegal migration across the Albanian–Greek border, and young people in Tokyo; and for the next two years Albanians fleeing Kosovo.Magnum Magnum, ed. Brigitte Lardinois (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007), p.145. He also worked on a commission from the University of the Aegean on storytelling in the region.
Economopoulos was dissatisfied with the assignment in Japan, as he felt unable to communicate with people and was just as estranged after three weeks of work as he had been on his arrival. By contrast, he writes that "I prefer to spend my time in my corner of the world, south Europe and west Asia, where I understand the codes and can make connections." This does not mean that the Balkans are an open book to him: Economopoulos has also written of the paradoxes apparent in Albania; and also across the Balkans, where faces can be sad even in wedding parties.
Economopoulos's photography of Turkey won him the 2001 Abdi İpekçi Award for promoting friendship between Turkey and Greece.Magnum Photos, opposite pl. 17. Painfully aware of the bitterness often encouraged in both Greece and Turkey toward the other, he has written appreciatively of the personal welcome given to him by the Turks that he meets.
There are no real differences [between Greeks and Turks]. I love Turkey and I can live there. I can't live in Paris or in London. But Istanbul — I can live there.
Economopoulos said in 2001 that he preferred to sleep in his caravan when travelling around the Balkans and Turkey. He did not feel safe in his caravan in the Balkans, but did feel safe in Turkey.
Economopoulos's photographs have been published in The Guardian, The Independent, Le Monde, Libération, The New York Times, El País, and Die Zeit.. He feels that there is no future in photojournalism. There is a loss of quality in photographs in newspapers, and Robert Capa would not take photographs if he were living today. But he concedes that Abbas and James Nachtwey are among those who disagree.
Platon Rivellis writes that: In Economopoulos' photographs, a smile, a tilt of the head, an unusual leap, a look, from being insignificant details from the second level of everyday life are re-evaluated and transformed into major photographic events.Platon Rivellis, "Nikos Economopoulos: Insignificant Events in the Service of Visual Poetry", introduction to Economopoulos: Photographer, p.25.
In 2002 Economopoulos and his family were living in Preveza; he is now (2010) living in Athens.Preveza 2002: Biographical page at the back of Economopoulos: Photographer. Athens 2010: contact page of Economopoulos' "On the Road" website; accessed 2010-01-22.
His work is in the permanent collections of Centre Méditerranéen de la Photographie (Corsica)CMP website. Accessed 3 December 2009. and the Benaki Museum (Athens)."La Mia Grecia", Benaki Museum. Accessed 2010-01-18.
Exhibitions by Economopoulos
Solo exhibitions "In the Balkans." Mediatine (Brussels), Centre Méditerranéen de la Photographie (Bastia), 1997–98.Press release for "Nikos Economopoulos" (PDF file), Maison Robert Doisneau, Communauté d'Agglomération de Val de Bièvre, 2009. Accessed 2010-01-18. "Nikos Economopoulos, Magnum: Retrospective of 100 Photographs, '79–99." Hellenic American Union, 1999. "Apo mēchanēs choros" (Από μηχανής χορός) / "Dance ex machina." Technopolis (Gazi, Athens), 2000.Christy Papadopoulou, "'Dance Ex Machina' in a photo", Athens News, 12667. Accessed 4 December 2009. "La mia Grecia". Museo Castello Ducale (Corigliano Calabro, Italy), 2004. "Economopoulos - photographer". Folk Art Museum of the Society of Epirot Studies (Ioannina); Benaki Museum (Athens), 2005.Exhibition notice, Benaki Museum. Accessed 18 January 2010. "In the Balkans." İstanbul Fotoğraf Merkezi (Istanbul), 2007.Page at İstanbul Fotoğraf Merkezi website. Accessed 3 December 2009. "Nikos Economopoulos." Evagoras Lanitis Centre (Limassol), 2008–2009."Whatson by Zoe Christodoulides", Cyprus Mail; Reproduction of flyer, Fotodos. Both accessed 30 November 2009. "Nikos Economopoulos, Photographe". Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau (Gentilly), 2009–2010.Exhibition notice , Magnum Photos. Accessed 29 November 2009.
Group exhibitions "NorthSouthEastWest: A 360° View of Climate Change". (With other Magnum photographers.) Science Museum (London), March 2005; and many cities worldwide until 2006.Press release (PDF file), Houston Museum of Natural Science, 2006; "NorthSouthEastWest ", OpenDemocracy. Both accessed 30 November 2009. "Periplus: 12 Magnum Photographers in Contemporary Greece." Onassis Cultural Center (Manhattan); Museum of Photography Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki); Benaki Museum (Athens); (as "Periplus - Fotografische Reisewege im heutigen Griechenland") Willy-Brandt-Haus (Berlin); Jin Tai Art Museum (Beijing); all 2004.Vicki J. Yiannias, "Perceptions of Greece: Periplus, an Exhibition of Magnum Photographers", Greek News, 30 May 2004; list of exhibitions by Economopoulos , Photography Now. Both accessed 1 December 2009. "Mediterranea." Provincial library of Bari (Bari), 2005–2006.Page at photographie.com. Accessed 3 December 2009. "Turkey by Magnum." Istanbul Modern (Istanbul), 2007.Exhibition notice , Euroart Web Magazine, Spring 2007. Accessed 1 December 2009. "L'humain dans les collections du Centre Méditerranéen de la Photographie." Centre Culturel Una Volta (Bastia), 2007.Page at photographie.com. Accessed 3 December 2009. Théâtre de Propriano (Propriano), 2009.Page at photographie.com. Accessed 3 December 2009.
As director/curator "City Streets.""City Streets Project", British Council. Accessed 2010-01-18. National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (Athens), 2007–2008; National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (Thessaloniki), 2008; European Parliament (Brussels), 2008;"City Streets: Photography exhibition in the European Parliament ", EPP Group in the European Parliament. Accessed 18 January 2010. SantralIstanbul (Istanbul), 2008."", Today's Zaman, 29 September 2008. Accessed 30 November 2009. Athens International Airport, 2009.
Books by Economopoulos In the Balkans. New York: Abrams, 1995. . Valkania (Βαλκάνια). Athens: Libro, 1995. . Balkanlarda. Istanbul: Fotoğrafevi, 2007. . Lignitōrychoi (Λιγνιτόρυχοι) / Lignite Miners. Athens: Indiktos, 1998. . Magnum: 100 Fotografies 1979–1999 (Magnum - 100 Φωτογραφίες 1979-1999). Athens: Hellenic American Union, 1999. Description, Hellenic American Union. Accessed 30 November 2009. Apo mēchanēs choros (Από μηχανής χορός). Athens: Diphōno, 2000. . . This page and this one of the retailer Vres.gr. Accessed 2 December 2009. The title means "Dance ex machina". About Children / Gia ta paidia (Για τα παιδιά). Athens: Metaichmio, 2001. . Economopoulos, photographer / Οικονομόπουλος, φωτογράφος. Athens: Metaichmio, 2002. . A survey of Economopoulos's work.Description (English) and description (Greek) at the Benaki Museum. Both accessed 1 December 2009. Kokkinē klōstē klōsmenē: Laïka paramythia kai aphēgētes tou Aigaiou (Κόκκινη κλωστή κλωσμένη - Λαϊκά παραμύθια και αφηγητές του Αιγαίου). Text by Marianthē Kaplanoglou. Athens: Ekdoseis Patakē, 2004. The title means "Red thread snapped: Folk tales and narrators of the Aegean."
Books with contributions by Economopoulos Magnum Cinema: Photographs from 50 Years of Movie-Making. London: Phaidon, 1995. . London: Phaidon, 2001. . Magnum Cinema: ein halbes Jahrhundert Kino in Magnum-Photographien. München: Schirmer/Mosel, 1994. . München: Schirmer/Mosel, 1996. . Magnum cinema: la storia del cinema nelle fotografie della Magnum. Milano: Mondadori, 1994. . Magnum cinema: des histories de cinéma par les photographes de Magnum. Paris: Cahiers du Cinéma, 1994. . Magunamu shinema: Magunamu shashinka-tachi ni yoru eigashi (). Tokyo: Kinema Junpō-sha, 1995. .