Photographer – Kostis Fokas – Greece

ROMEO Art is our space to highlight and exhibit everyone from budding queer artists and students to established creators. In this edition, we feature Kostis Fokas, an exceptionally talented photographer from Athens, Greece. Fokas reinvents perspective, focusing on areas usually avoided by the lens. He shares some of his collection with us here for you to enjoy.

Warming up to Kostis Fokas

Can you tell our Romeos a little bit about yourself?

“Hello, I’m Kostis, I’ve lived for most of my life in Athens, I studied photography and started working for five years in Greek fashion magazines.”

“It was clearly not what I wanted to do so later on, around 2012, I started working on my own personal projects.”

“From that day I decided to do what I love most in my own way. It’s very important for artists to find their own path, and their own way to create what they want to share and communicate with their audience.I feel extremely lucky that I found mine.”

Intention

What would you like to say with your photography?

“‘Explore’ is the right word for me to describe my work and its intentions towards my art in general. What I would like to explore is my admiration for the human body, as well as the curiosity, the beauty, the diversity and whatever it is our bodies express spontaneously. “

“People are honest while naked, they come closer to their real self, they can’t hide behind the comfort clothing offers. I attempt to approach people in meaningful ways, and I believe that photographing myself went a long way towards this direction.”

“In 2013 I started taking pictures of myself to overcome many personal obstacles and taboos. This way, I found the strength to talk about topics that I used to avoid not only when conversing with others but with myself too.”

“Finally, I managed to see all of these in front of my very eyes, and I could do nothing, but accept me as I am. This was really liberating and added more meaning to what I do.”

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Another ROMEO Art piece: Jav Rubín 

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Selection

How do you choose your models and your themes?
“I am quite interested in photographing people who are liberated and stripped of taboos when it comes to nudity. I do not really cast models based on their beauty (obviously) but more on their character.”

“It is one of my practices, before the actual shooting takes place, to spend some time with my models, to come closer, to discuss and make them feel at home. I regard the whole process as a sort of entertainment both for myself and for my models.”

“Each person has something unique to offer, and this is exactly what I invest in; their uniqueness. I land on their body, and I start exploring it through my lens accordingly. I want to make my models open up and give me permission to elicit what they are afraid of but so desperately need to share at the same time.”

“What is also of the essence to me is the photo-shooting per se, since the goal is to create a piece out of a sense of togetherness and collectivity.”

Do you consider your work to be erotic?
“Sexuality is not the sole objective of my work. The naked bodies depicted in my photography do not intend to seduce erotically, my intention is rather to create an interplay between the viewer’s eye and their senses; exactly as it happens in real love.”

“I want people to discover and face parts of themselves through my photos, to relate with what they see. Through my work, I create a personal discourse on satisfaction. My lens turns into fingertips that long to touch upon and discover what goes beyond the flesh of the body. What I find liberating is sharing something so personal as if I reveal my secret desires in an outspoken way. My work is my shelter, the safest place for me to talk about myself, a place with no room for fear.”

Romeo Art – Photographer – Kostis Fokas