All About Feelings

Photographs by Andreas Tsamtsouris

Greek photographer Andreas Tsamtsouris talks about the minimalism in his work, the personalities he captures, and shares a photo that he almost got arrested for taking.

Athens, Greece

Whats is your history as a photographer?

I first bought my first DSLR camera back in 2008 to take pictures of my friends while rollerblading and surfing.

Actually, my first photos were horrible!

Since then, I have collaborated with big brands like Coca-Cola and Olympic Airlines and I have participated in photography exhibitions in Greece and abroad.

In fact, the last exhibition I took part in was a very particular one, conducted online due to Covid-19 where I had the opportunity to cooperate with artists around the world. In addition, I was nominated and awarded local photography awards which is very significant for me as every picture of mine is a depiction of the reality I conceive a particular moment. I don’t like and I don’t care about the labels like photographer, artist, surfer….

…It's all about the feelings!

How would you describe your style?

Since childhood, I had an inclination towards moody style, I do love those paintings and comics.

Beautiful melancholy is what I'm trying to 'decode' through my photographs.

Who are your subjects? Why are they special to you?

I love the story around their lives and experiences!

Surfing is a piece of art as it is . I’m so stoked when im swimming and taking pictures of my dudes and sharing in the moments.

Regarding portraits, I do admire beautiful personalities, people who are interesting and standout in their own distinctive way and through the special aura they emit.

As landscapes...I believe they can recount their variety of stories on their own. They subject to multiple interpretations! I love minimalism.

What is the story behind your favorite photograph?

I won't say it's my favorite picture as I want to believe I haven't captured it yet but the interesting thing about this particular picture is that everything happened.

Very quickly, from the forming of the idea to the final implementation of it.

It was Wednesday and I was crossing an avenue on the motorcycle of a friend of mine and this building caught my attention.

I haven't seen it for a while but I've always remembered myself dreaming of skating on its roof.

On Saturday morning, I talked with my friends and I explained to them what I wanted to do.

It was really boiling on that day, around 40 degrees, so we decided to try this out the following day.

I woke up on Sunday on the roof skating kick I've imagined, I called the folks but it was a really hot day once again and everyone wanted to go to the beach.

( Truth to be said, we are almost 40 and not 20 for this kind of craziness and skating on boiling concrete.)

But...I couldn't calm down and I desperately wanted to take that shot!

I called Hampic, another friend of mine and told him what I wanted to do. He brushed me off as he had other plans. 5 minutes later, he called me back telling me that he was in.

My energy and zealotry to do it had persuaded him. We arrived at the spot and 20 minutes later, the security guards chased us out of the building but it was too late! We had the shot!