The other side of Athens
Petros Koublis captures the silent countryside that surrounds the capital's "desperate cry"
The Greek photographer Petros Koublis' landscapes don't afford a traditional view of Athens. There are no buildings with tiled roofs packed closely together, no piazzas and certainly no Acropolis. Koubis's bucolic photographs appear to be a world apart from the ancient, beleaguered city, though his locations are less than 30 miles from the centre of the struggling Greek capital.
His photo-series, In Landcapes, subtitled 'An alternate state in parallel time', shows the other side of Athens: one covered in woodlands, grassy fields and wildlife and in direct contrast to the hustle and current tensions within the city.
"Surrounded by the silence of centenarian olive groves, meadows, mountains and seas, the city today struggles to carry the weight of its own existence," Koublis says, "facing a rather tough and tense present. This is a prolonged silence that seems to surround the loud and desperate cry that comes out of the capital city."
Starting out as a painter, Koubis took up photography in 2000 and, after studying his craft in Athens turned professional in 2004. He has since had his work featured in magazines and exhibitions across Greece and the rest of Europe.
While Koubis' landscapes are far from the metropolis of Athens, idyllic and at times magical, there is still a sense of apprehension accentuated by broken and fallen trees, autumnal orange bushes which cut through the trees like fire and loan animals which seem acutely aware of the photographer's presence.
"There is no beauty that is timeless but the timelessness of nature can reflect a new direction, maybe even a hope. It's not a blissful silence but it's an inspiring one," Koublis concludes.
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