Nikos Aliagas. “Photography is my break from recklessness.”

Nikos Aliagas presents at the Abbaye de Jumièges, Saint-Maritim until October 31, The spleen of Ulysses (1), a photographic journey in nostalgia, also published by Éditions de la Martinière (2). 35 shots until July 15 Meetings on the banks of the Seine (3) are also revealed on the gates of the Hôtel du Département in Rouen. Interview between Greece and Normandy.

In the video, the Nouvelles Vagues film festival launches its ode to youth

Between two worlds

Miss Figaro. –What does the myth of Ulysses represent for you Nikos Aliagas? My grandfather read Homer to me in the shade of the olive trees, and Ulysses comes close to my parents’ region in Greece. The myth is subconsciously etched in my DNA. I grew up with this idea of ​​a person whose journey of initiation allows them to learn the right lessons, grow, come back to themselves, and maybe reach a state of serenity.

How does the myth of Ulysses still manifest itself in our society?
The look of this spleen and the absence of a person who has lost something that he wants to find again, I meet it in the face of a fisherman in Greece, a mechanic in a tropical forest in Costa Rica, or an expectant grandfather. to cross the ferry at Saint-Maritim. The waiting to leave, the impossible return, between two worlds, I see it everywhere and try to capture it in my images.

With this book and this exhibition, you claim to be studying myth“A modern-day hero who becomes a man through adversity.” What a misfortune?
Time is modern man’s worst enemy. Man can give himself the illusion that he can control it with his connected watches and his schedules, that he doesn’t miss anything thanks to the immediacy of social networks, that he can erase the years by smoothing his face… But time always wins. Let’s face it. A man with a face carved by the winds of the Ionian Sea is undoubtedly more in tune with himself than we are.

Taking pictures of other people’s spleen, is it yours too?
Of course. I have been carrying my father’s exile since I was a child. In the 1960s, he left Greece for France with a suitcase. I read in his face the uprooting, the impossible return. He kept saying he would come back, but when I accompanied him to his country, it was in his last moments. I was born in France, my life is here, but it resonates with me when I see someone who comes from another place or carries the genes and memory of their ancestors. I read it in his hanging gaze. Sometimes it is almost invisible, but photography is a good indicator of this heritage.

another word

What does your second exhibition in Rouen say? Meetings on the banks of the Seine?
The idea was to let myself go with the wind and drift. Nicolas Bouvier said that the most beautiful photos are the ones found along the way, not the ones we were looking for in the first place. This is what I tried to do while walking along the banks of the Seine, not planning anything, taking photos of what I passed. A student returning home, a group of men in traditional Scottish clothing, an open-air circus… I also remember the travelers. I was tired, I had back pain after falling on the TV, I didn’t say anything, but they saw. A chair and a bottle of cold water were brought for me and we started chatting. I find that humanity only in photographic wanderings.

Is fame worth your photos?
It is a double-edged sword. it can make the subject lose the naturalness of the subject being photographed, but it also helps build confidence.

You are a media person. To photograph, is it a desire to look more than to be looked at?
It’s the desire to be who I’ve always been, regardless of the distorting magnifying glass that is celebrity. When I finish my day, I don’t dance to Lady Gaga until 2:00 am. The day after the bonus, I take my kids to school like everyone else. And taking pictures, I did it before I was famous. This is what led me to journalism, to documentaries, to what I was doing when I started. Devoting more time to this passion means returning to a safe zone where I find freedom and can express myself differently. A picture on TV is worth 1000 conversations.

When did you fall in love with photography??
From childhood. Then I discover black and white photos of my family and realize that time passes, people grow old, die. Photography is my break from recklessness. I want to immortalize those I love so I can keep them with me forever.

Other projects?
I have been photographing olive trees for twenty years. Something to do with this sacred tree that represents so much in Greece… TV side, I stop 50 minutes Inside 16 years later, since, inter The voice, The Star Ac: and event bonuses, I’ll have 40 busy weeks a year. I want to save time for me and the photo. I want to continue this important path for my development, but also do my work from a good distance.

(1) The spleen of Ulysses until October 31, at the Abbaye de Jumièges in Saint-Maritim.

(2) The spleen of Ulysses By Nikos Aliagas, published by Éditions La Martinière. 160 p. 32 €

(3) Meetings on the banks of the Seine until July 15 at the gates of the Hôtel du Département in Rouen.