I could say in just a few words that the secret lies simply in the power some images have to take my breath away. For a few seconds—or for much longer, when the image enters my very being—I remain stunned. It is as if something seizes me, either in a lightning-like way or in a gentle and quiet manner, and changes me. I feel it; my body senses it, and at the same time my mind falls silent. I have no need to understand, to explain, to analyze, or to comment. I do not want to say or do absolutely anything; I remain still as I gaze upon the image, listen to it inwardly, and wish it would never end. Like standing before a beloved person. Linear time stops, and I enter another kind of time, which I would call vertical. It is the vertical time of the absolute present. I need no story of any kind, from the past or the future. I am completely absorbed, humble before the beauty that floods my eyes. My everyday “self” has withdrawn, and I find myself somewhere I would call the space of my inner truth.
Because this kind of emotion is not sentimentality; it is precisely what happens when our soul recognizes in an image one or more of its own qualities. Beauty, gentleness, vulnerability, compassion, strength, intelligence, love, courage, pure joy, freedom, stillness, mystery—these are some of those qualities, and they are common to all of us. And they are not ideas or mental constructs; they are states of being, and only when we ourselves become love, mystery, or strength can we truly perceive what they are.
The image gives me the opportunity; it places me in the process of recognizing who I truly am. That is why in the East, “seeing” is synonymous with “knowing.” Photography is an energetic vessel of essence and meaning. I do not understand it through logical deduction; I encounter it when I allow it to overwhelm me. This is its transformative power.
I have been in the world of images almost since the day I was born. In the past, I did not have the words to explain it, and even now words are poor; they describe the experience only partially but do not touch its essence. Because the essence cannot be described in words. I write this in order to share my lived experience and to pose the question, rather than to provide an answer. Each person must answer for themselves.
For me, photography is the visual materialization (through the use of the photographic medium) of an encounter with an element of the reality that surrounds us and that moves us. And because emotion is a matter of energetic resonance (that is, being on the same wavelength), the encounter is essentially an act of recognition. We recognize something outside of us that exists within us—if it were not within us, quite simply, we would not see it. In other words, an artistic photographic work is nothing more than a mirror of our inner world.
Images, therefore, are not good or bad, but true or false in relation to our truth. And when I say truth, I do not mean a mental construct or an idea, but a state of being. Thus, in the act of viewing it, photography ceases to be an object of criticism and becomes a point of encounter. We feel it with our whole being; we do not try to understand it.
We like it, we dislike it, or it leaves us indifferent. But this is always accompanied by sensations, thoughts, and emotions. If we explore them, we enter into dialogue and a real relationship with ourselves.
Thus, my primary concern in the photography workshops I lead is for participants to restore this inner connection with the image. We cultivate emotional intelligence, empathy, and intuition—practices that are absolutely necessary if we want, first and foremost, to have a healthy relationship with reality. And of course, all this takes place within a supportive and loving environment, created through genuine sharing, acceptance, and mutual respect among everyone who participates in the workshop.
The expression of the way we live and perceive existence is visually realized in what we call the photographic gaze. This, in turn, is the epitome—the very definition—of the photographic work of art. And the deeper we go within ourselves, the more our work acquires true substance and the ability to move others, because quite simply our inner truth is not individual, but communicatively universal.
This contemporary way of approaching the image therefore gives essential meaning to artistic creation, transforming it into an act of consciousness.
Written by Haris Kakarouchas
Photographer, Photography Teacher, Curator
This text was part of Photologio’s feature dedicated to World Photography Day (19 August 2021).
