Limassol photographer goes psycho graphic

Putting photography in the spotlight is a new exhibition by a Limassol-born award-winning photographer and journalist. On February 16, Antigone Solomonidou-Drousiotou will open her En Somati exhibition at isnotgallery in Nicosia.

The exhibition reaches Cyprus after its success in Athens and is a series that constitutes the first part of her book Psycho-graphics. Black-and-white photographs are featured dating from 1997 to 2023, a period reflecting the transition from black-and-white film to digital reality.

Commenting on Antigone’s work, art historian Lyda Kazantzakis writes: “The creator opens her own path, following in the footsteps of representatives of the French movement of humanistic photography of the 20th century. The body speaks. With its postures and movements, it expresses its impulsiveness and restraint, the memory of the good and bad experiences it carries from its childhood, its conscious or unconfessed desires. The body is our primary means of communication with the Other, both familiar and foreign.

“She places the human being at the centre of her work, choosing as her ‘models’ ordinary but exclusively her own people, capturing them in black-and-white shots, but unlike them not in the streets of the city, but in atmospheric, internal or explosive, natural landscapes.”

The photographer’s showcase next week in Nicosia is not her first exhibition on the island. Far from it. Throughout her career she has presented her solo work around Cyprus, most recently being at the 1st Limassol Photography Festival in late 2023. Her work has travelled to exhibitions and events abroad as well, including international biennales representing Cyprus.

En Somati

Photography exhibition by Antigone Solomonidou-Drousiotou. February 16-March 2. Isnotgallery, Nicosia. Opening night: 7.30pm. Tuesday-Friday: 10am-1pm and 4pm-6pm. Saturday: 10am-2pm. Tel: 99-569498. www.isnotgallery.com