The Paradox of You by Yiannis Ampatziadis 

The “paradox of you” is a photography project that Yiannis Ampatziadis developed in 2019. The main idea is to use coloured water to detach the body from the head, thus creating a fragmented image of the whole. Together with curator Ioannis Argyris,  they developed a conceptional world of the men that they photographed.

The “paradox of you” originated as a pure pop project with the purpose to demonstrate the separation of the body from the head. The detachment of the main body from the mind created an image of a fragmented whole. The constant change of both creates the paradox of you being you but not you at the same time, creating a universal collage. In a world where one doesn’t identify with one’s picture, the paradox project created a mixture of multiple identities and personas. Perhaps in a way, this separation leads to the freedom of the mind that is no longer influenced by the corpus. Inspired by pop culture, the final product is the manipulation and visual removal of the subject from its known context, thus the mind from the body. Does this conclude to confusion or to a new identification?

I grew up in Athens, studied biology in Crete and Utrecht and came back to my hometown to do my PhD. I have been taking pictures since I convinced my mum to buy me a film camera at the age of 10. I have always practiced storytelling through my intimate portraits.  In the last couple of years I work as a photographer, professionally but also develop my creative/artistic projects.

Credits:
Art Direction & Photo-shooting by  Yiannis Ampatziadis
yam.format.com
Instagram: @yiannisampatziadis
Facebook: @Yiannis-Ampatziadis-Photography

Creative Direction & Curation by
Ioannis Argyris
Instagram: @ioannis.argyris
Facebook: @ioannes.argyris
The models featured in this series are:
Tangerine: Dimitris Psarakos
Instagram: @fishakos
Blue: Billy Milionis
Instagram: @billmilionis
Red (collage with blue): Leonidas
Instagram: @leo.ndas
Olive: Panos Laganas
Instagram: @0dil0.n
Yellow: Kostia Von Kounellmski
Instagram: @koko_kounel
Purple: Γιάννης Κουρ
Instagram: @_johnswimmer_
Light blue: Christos Tzovaras
Instagram: @christostzovaras
Red (pink flower): Uğur Osmanoğlu
Instagram: @ugurosmngl
Petrol: Giannis Kastrisianakis
Instagram: @pic_me_up_86
Gold: Konstantinos Giannakopoulos
Instagram: @konstantinos_gian