A study of the different ways in which modern Greek photographers deal with self-portraiture is the selfimages exhibition, which opens on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, at 19:30, at the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography.
In the exhibition, curated by Natassa Markidou, more than 130 works by 33 Greek artists are presented in five sections: Autobiography, Identity, Fluidity, Familiar and Public, Primordial Memory. In these sections, the historical origins of the selfportrait are creatively recycled in the areas of the artist’s negotiation with his image. As the curator notes about the sections:
“Autobiography. The challenging of stereotypic roles and the imperativeness of a discourse on the mechanism of the subconscious in human behavior triggered a series of artists to explore the compound issue of autobiography, through photography, which takes the role of a penetrating mirror.
Identity. The photographers apprehends their entity as a model immersing in images in order to appreciate or parody them, disguise themselves as a mainstream artist, a puppet, or assume the role of a hybrid persona. The artworks are immediately associated with the critical practices in the agenda of post-modernism.
Fluidity. The self is depicted in variable levels of transformation, assuming a role deprived of distinct associations with individuality, while the body is many a time handled as raw material and is located in a transition area from one status to another or a in state of fusion between Real – Phantasmic, Αnimate – Inanimate, Cohesion – Fragmentariness, Childhood – Adolescence, Static – Floating.
Familiar and Public. Photographers find themselves in a process of identifying the inner space as an environment where from time to time, an uncommon séance with the past is conducted, sanctioned by photography, while public space constitutes a field of exploration and reflection that affects the individual through collective memory and cultural heritage.
Primordial Memory. The self is urged towards nature through a preexisting notion, that identifies it as both the origin and the terminus of their existence. A series of actions and makeshift rituals, shows that the photographers pursue their identity and mental exaltation in a natural setting”.

Participating photographers: Anton / Agrafotis Dimosthenis / Alkidis Pericles / Anastassakis Yiorgos / Antoniadis Costis / Vardopoulos Panos / Vlachaki Anastasia / Gerassopoulos Thomas / Georgiou Aris / Depollas Yiorgos / Douveri Aggeliki / Zissi Nikoletta / Kalaitzakis Michael / Calligas Lizzie / Calbari Christina / Kamidou Tania / Kademiri Natassa / Kokkinias Panos / Koukourakis Yiannis / Kourgiantakis Leonidas / Konstantinidis Nikos / Konstantinou Vassileios / Maligoura Eleni / Matsamaki Georgia / Mouzi Stella / Nasios Achilles / Paschos Stefanos / Prassa Alexia / Skoufias Manolis / Tsakiri Katerina / Tsoublekas Dimitris / Chroni Athina / Foukis Konstantinos.

The works of the exhibition are in dialogue with the era of the massive phenomenon of selfie, the photographic self-replication that overwhelms the social networks. In the context of this dialogue, the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography conducted a selfie competition through its official Facebook page, where users were able to participate by uploading their own selfie to the application, then inviting their online friends to vote. After three weeks, about 700 entries and more than 8,000 users who voted, the 100 most liked selfies (https://apps.brainweb.gr/thmphotocontest/winners) were emerged, and they will be presented at the entrance to the ThMP.
At the same time, the ThMP enables the visitors of the exhibition to take photos of themselves in the exhibition space and to see their selfie directly on a special projection screen that will be located at the reception of the Museum, thus creating an interactive relationship with one or more works of the exhibition.

[selfimages]
Duration: 27/02/2018-13/09/2018, Opening: 27/02/2018, at 19:30
Venue: Thessaloniki Museum of Photography (Warehouse A, 1st floor, Port)
Curated by: Natassa Markidou

-> During the exhibition the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography will organize parallel events (projections, speech events, etc.), which will be announced in time.

*Photo: Georgia Matsamaki, Piece VI, from the series Pieces, 2016

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Exhibition sponsor

Communucation sponsors

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