My earliest memory of photography is trying to get close-ups of insects and flowers with a Minolta pocket instamatic when I was in my early teens
After ten years of working in the Greek media, I joined Reuters in 1996. A few months later there was an uprising in Albania against the government of then-President Sali Berisha. It was my first assignment in such a hostile environment, with lootings, shootings and killings creating a chaotic situation across the country.
While covering the Albanian unrest, I had to cope with a totally new side of my profession, which was ugly, scary and at the same time extremely challenging. The good thing? I finally made it and next year I won a Fuji Film Award as the Greek photographer of the year with pictures from that trip.
I feel attracted to simple daily-life stories, although I am now approaching them in a very different way than I used to in the past. I spend more time with my subject, whether it is an object or a person.
When I take pictures, I try to tell a story that awakens emotions and thoughts and that could reach every single reader in the world. I want to create a good picture that catches the eye and forces the viewer to look deeper, to read the text of an article or to click through a whole slideshow.
My biggest lesson? You never know.
I respect people who believe that respect itself is one of the most important values in their lives.
