The evolution of photographic technique in the second half of the 19th century replaced the previously static medium with a portable, instantaneous device capable of creating informal compositions—without poses or rigid long setups. The camera obscura evolved into a tool that spread across and influenced all areas of human activity: it could document, objectify, express, serve as a communication channel, and reproduce. To some extent, it replaced painting in capturing the two-dimensional reality, experience, and truth—a truth Europeans endlessly sought to grasp through science, education, philosophy, and the arts. As a tool for detailed recording, it became a significant reason for reevaluating traditional notions of Art. Its pictorial panorama and possibilities, however, gave further impetus to the new explorations in fine arts. What mattered now was no longer the elaborate subject, but the choice of appropriate forms and colors to convey the present moment, movement, and the living pulse of the image at a specific point in time.

Looking at the photographic works of Chatzidiakou, Kourtis, and Spartali, I make a quick ‘mini’ historical reflection in my mind and feel joy. I rejoice because three women creators, living on the island of Rhodes, whose work I have known individually for years, come together to transform their delicate artistic consciousness into visible objects. They turn reality into pulsating monochromatic and colored rhythms and create vignettes of life. If the world is, according to Baudelaire, a “hieroglyphic dictionary,” these three artists focus on the value of the moment, and their subjective gaze develops into short, lively, and above all, feminine episodes.

Guy de Maupassant, in the preface to his novel Pierre et Jean (1888), notes that the true artist—even the most realistic—“…does not seek to show us an ordinary photograph of life, but to give us a vision more complete, more impressive, more penetrating than reality itself. [...] To create something truthful therefore means giving a complete illusion of the real…”.

Ioanna, Magdalini, and Niki dive from the camera’s platform and slip into moments full of sensitivity and LIFE. They alternate between abundance and minimalism in their chosen subjects and invite us to join their journey. May they receive many more such invitations to explore the multiple mirrors of life and the subtle boundaries between reality and dream…

Polly Chatzimarkou
Art & DesignHistorian