I am Not a Voyeur: Michael Katakis and His Photographic Approach
 Traveller: Observations From the Publisher:“‘How could I have known then with no maps acquired and my bags not yet packed that my journey had already begun? …The tools of a traveller are compass and map. They calculate distances covered and destinations sought but cannot measure the consequences of experiences on a human heart,’ writes Michael Katakis in his introduction. Traveller is a collection of letters and journal entries that bring the immediacy of experience together with perceptive reflections of the authors own past. The entries in this volume are not travel guides. They are personal, like letters from the most desirable sort of friend. This friend carries you with him as he meanders through the medina in Fez or into the hills of Gallipoli. His voice is such that you can almost smell the herbs and dusty soil of Crete. Always you are introduced to the people he meets along the way.” |
That said, I don’t necessarily take photographs every day. It is not up to me to say, “Oh, this is the perfect photograph I must take today.” I can prepare the moment (which usually does not render worthy pictures), but I can’t choose it. A photographer can’t say that it is/was him (or someone else) who brought him to the image; rather, it is the moment that brought the photographer to the image. In fact, I practise a “one picture per day” policy or philosophy. My students used to find that overtly harsh. It is not. It makes you think and choose, versus the attitude of “consumerism” — taking pictures with a cellphone, for example, and click, click, click all the time without any real reflexion. I strongly believe that when you have nothing to say, pass it. This is likewise for taking responsible photographs, which should be “pure” and not polluted scenes. They are instants of prescient vision. Do you imply that moments are the hardest obstacle to overcome in producing good photography? Yes and no. Anticipating moments is vital, but there are so many magical fleeting moments as well. I can’t emphasize more the importance of streets and street life as far as these fleeting instants are concerned — life is right there in the streets. You don’t need to prepare moments for a good photograph, they’re right there in the streets. Kurt Vonnegut once described a life as “unstuck in time.” The act of taking photographs translates into portraying these “unstuck” moments that constitute life. Speaking of that which is hardest to achieve in photography, I think it could be silence. Also, the eye can get tired. It’s not a machine. When it’s tired, it must rest. You’ve also just mentioned traveling and the feeling of “being everywhere”… Yes. I haven’t had a country for long time. I live everywhere and nowhere. Being a traveller is not being a tourist. A traveller does not ask the question, “Where is the best place to eat? The best hotel to stay?” A traveller is always awake, he stays engaged in life. That is living, which is also the definition of photography. |
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