Interview

Written By Editorial Team

Eva Berler

Eva has been involved in creative art photography since 2019. She is based in Athens, Greece. She loves nature, urban, macro, abstract and fine art photography. Eva published her first photobook “Little miracles” in December 2022 (iFocus editions). Her first solo exhibition was held in May 2023 (iFocus Gallery). She is the winner of the Wildlife and Nature category of the Professional competition of the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards. Eva’s works were also awarded in the reFocus BIack and White and Color contests, as well as the International Visionography awards and the Exposure One awards. Her works were also featured in various group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Eva participated in the collective photo project "Foodprint" featured at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in Athens. Some of her photos were included in collective photobooks published in Greece and USA and as covers for poetry books in Greece (Kichli publishing).

 

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“I started to engage with photography as an art form about a year after I voluntarily left my job in the financial sector. While I was in the process of searching what my next steps would be, I took a course in creative art photography. I was immediately drawn to the medium and its creative potential. It all started in the fall of 2019, just before the coronavirus pandemic. Photography helped me cope with the lockdown period in a creative way and has revived my connection with Nature, as well as my inner world, my emotions and my soul. I have been involved with other art forms before, but I find that photography is the one that lets me express myself best.”

What inspires you?

“My inspiration comes mainly from nature or my emotional reaction to books, films, art exhibitions or anything ordinary around me. However, I find that nature allows me to use my imagination and creativity in a more playful and unrestricted way. This is something I can’t seem to find as often in the man-made landscape. Also, since photography is for me like an inner dialogue and discovery process, I rarely find the need to capture other people to be able to convey the stories I need to say.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“I love nature, urban, macro, abstract and fine art photography. I’m not fascinated by the impressive or extraordinary but more so by the hidden, the quiet or unseen things that I may discover in the ordinary or nature. I seek the beauty, magic and poetry in the ordinary, creating what I call “my little mundane world.” For me, what is hidden in the details is beautiful, intriguing and precious and I feel compelled to share it with others through my photos in an artistic way. Photography is my way to discover new things hidden deeply in myself and share them as stories with others. I see my photos as verses in poems, as random thoughts and glimpses in my little mundane world’s story, my story. It is a way to unconsciously learn about myself and the world under a new perspective and use the visual universal language of photography to show it to others. The intention is to seek deeper within me through the reflections of what I see in my subjects, mainly in nature, but also in the urban environment. I would say that my main message is that we don’t have to search far to find beauty and magic in our ordinary lives. We need to purposely seek for it anywhere we go, to counter balance all the negativity, violence and disconnection that we encounter in our modern world.”

How would you describe your work?

“I try to find the poetic in the ordinary. I find that I need to focus more on the details and move closer to my subjects to find it and highlight it and discard all the visual noise of modern living. I believe that a photograph should have an artistic as well as emotive value/appeal. Visual artistry, a poetic sense and simplicity are also important elements of my work. I also see myself seeking more of a painterly and abstract element in my photography lately. I think that a powerful photograph is the one that relates with sincerity and authenticity with the photographer’s intention and emotions. If there is a personal truth conveyed through the photograph (or any artwork for that matter), then it finds a way to reach the viewer and spark some kind of emotional reaction. I am always happy to hear for the viewers when they are able to see my sensitivity and vulnerability and sense the poetry or magic in my photos.”

Which artists influence you most?

“I think that I am mostly influenced by painters, mainly from the impressionists onwards. I really like abstracts and minimalist works, as well. As for photographers’ influences, I would say that Imogen Cunningham and Robert Mapplethorpe’s flower photos, as well as Edward Weston’s still life photos and Alfred Stieglitz study on clouds have been important inspirations. There are amazing contemporary photographers doing incredible work in the areas of nature, abstract, minimalist and fine art. The more you get in touch with any form of art that makes you feel something (paintings, photographs, installations, performances, films, poetry, etc), the more insights and ideas can be generated for new projects. So, I try to expose myself to as much art as possible to fuel my emotional and creative process.”

“My inspiration comes mainly from nature or my emotional reaction to books, films, art exhibitions or anything ordinary around me.”

What is your creative process like?

“My projects arise mainly from my everyday life, a walk in the city or in nature, a trip or an inspiration from any other art form. Usually, everything starts with a first image and then I try to build a collection of related images inspired by the first capture. After identifying the initial idea and possibly a conceptual framework around it, I work intensively to create a solid set of photographs, with a common thread linking them, either thematical or aesthetic. I am interested in creating complete series of photographs, through which I can highlight the central subject in a multifaced way. So, my creative process is a combination of luck, inspiration and systematic work.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“I think that an artist should try to provide others with new and alternative aesthetic visual possibilities about the world. In other words, an artist should try to create new sensory gateways where people can see in a different way and discover new things and new opportunities about themselves and the environment, by bringing to the surface emotions that have been suppressed or muted in the modern, fast-paced, disconnected way of living. At least this is the way I see my role as an artist. I try to highlight the extraordinary poetry that may be hidden in the ordinary and create feelings of gratitude, awe and wonder. Fortunately, nowadays, artists have more ways to showcase their work digitally, even to people that are very far away from their creative base. I feel that this is increases the creative potential of all artistic efforts. It creates a wider audience and a greater of pool of artistic inspiration for art production.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?

“In my recent visit in London, I had the opportunity to visit the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, where my winning series “Suspended Worlds” that won the Wildlife and Nature category of the Professional competition was exhibited. It was very interesting to see how the curators had highlighted all the various projects in ways that would highlight each work in the best way. It was an amazing experience to be able to see the momentous work of Sebastião Salgado upclose. While I was in London, I also had the chance to visit the exhibition “Extraction/Abstraction” by Edward Burtynsky at Saatchi Gallery. The exhibition was really immersive due to the large scale prints. I felt really drawn into these scenes. I really enjoyed the way he captured the devastating impact of human activities on the environment in a way that is – paradoxically - aesthetically appealing.”

 
Editorial Team
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