Kamilo Nollas, belongs to the first generation of photographers who explore the capabilities of the mobile phone as a medium; yet at the same time, all his training and the evolution of his work was based on the study of film photography, film processing in a darkroom, and careful composition and presentation.
His previous work Tobacco Factories, for example was, essentially, directly opposite from that which we see here: large prints taken with bulky film cameras, flawlessly lighted and photographic architectural spaces. Recorded here at the same time is the irrelevant, nothing of significance. Friends, sometimes sober and sometimes stoned drunk, (a lot of) dogs in almost anthropomorphic poses, shadows, a sunset, party scenes, beach scenes, bar scenes, totally commonplace situations, details of objects and people, fleeting chromatic studies. Photographs apparently similar to the thousands of photos all of us amateur photographers snap with our mobile telephone every day. But among all the dozens of photos that Nollas presents here, in essence he sets us up a small lesson in photography, teaching us what’s worth shooting, and, perhaps, more importantly, what’s not, independent of any professional or “artistic” scheme.
Τext: Thanasis Moutsopoulos
