INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEW WITH Idiomatic Painting © Gregori Maiofis YOU JUST GAVE US A GOOD BRIDGE TO THE SECOND QUESTION ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN MANY ARTISTIC FIELDS, ESPECIALLY PAINTING. THERE ARE MANY STEPS IN CREATING A WORK OF ART, IN CREATING LASTING EMOTIONS. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC INSTANT BECOMES THE LAST RING IN THIS CHAIN. WHAT DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU FINISH THIS PROCESS, WHEN YOU CLOSE THE LAST RING WITH YOUR CAMERA?
In graphic arts, you still need to have some kind of idea as to what you want to create. What I truly do in photography is just put together compositions, which is the same thing that painters have been doing for centuries. -- In the fifteen years that I’ve actually worked with photography I’ve created many different sequences, and
what makes it worthwhile is the originality that I can find in my compositions. I never stuck to a rigid schematic, or repeated the same things over and over. I wanted to make sure that my photographs were important to me based on the criteria from my previous artistic background.
G. This type of work really consists of several parts. It’s a situation where on one hand you must invent something fantastic, but it must also be possible, you need to bring it all inside the picture. Sometimes I have sketches where I realize that it will be very difficult to get the photographs the way I want them, and it can take years to get them done. Not just with bears and ballerinas, but in many situations where I’ve wanted to reshoot some photographs, the animals or other characters haven’t been available anymore. --The same applies to all my work; people change, and circumstances change. The best I can
do is to make the most of what I have available to me, depending on the present circumstances. Some people say that my work, for example, would not be possible in the United States because of liability issues. When you’re working with bears or other such animals, you’ve just got to hope it will all turn out alright. When I push the button and actually create the photograph, it’s after such a long procedural chain of events that I don’t really feel that it’s any special step. --In this way, I feel my photographs are closer to theatre, where you just have to hope that your characters, your actors, will make the scenes come together for you. When you work with animals, you need a lot of luck. Hopefully, when I commit to a photograph, all the moving pieces will come together to create something special.
GREGORI MAIOFIS