ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Vasiliki Poula
by Vasiliki Poula | February 10, 2025
‘When No One’s Looking’
Film Photography, Kodak Porta 400
These photographs, shot on Kodak Portra 400 with an Olympus OM-1 at box speed, are from Hydra, in January 2025. Hydra is a small Greek island just a two-hour boat ride from Athens. The island is entirely traversable by foot, and its car-free stone pathways and preserved architecture create an intimate atmosphere where daily life unfolds at a pace that invites granular attention to the subtlety of dynamics therein.
When I take photos, I tend to stand parallel to people, with the camera in hand, observing. Each still starts with an intuitive pull – something in the interaction between people and place catches my eye. I wait to understand what drew me there, then for the right moment to capture it fully. Sometimes I wait too long and lose it. Sometimes I rush and miss the peak.
The act of photographing becomes a way to process, and unpack this initial attraction. A look, a gesture, a smile that – while seemingly ordinary and often going unnoticed – speaks to our common experience of being human.
I don’t tend to ask for permission, in order not to disrupt the natural flow of the moment too much. Instead, I make my presence obvious, standing visible with my camera. Some people smile, others continue their routines, a few might show annoyance – these varied reactions become part of the work, showing how differently people respond when their ordinary moments become noticed.
Vasiliki Poula
@vasilikipoula