Pygmalion Karatzas
Architectural, Fine Art & Commercial Photography

Image Copyright: Rights-Managed © Pygmalion Karatzas.

Edition Type: Limited edition print.

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“The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.” - Lao Tzu

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Altered states of consciousness have been a fascination of mine since my introduction to meditation techniques in the late 90ies. Through practice and study, the culmination of this journey can best be described by the integral theory of philosopher Ken Wilber. Based on his work, I co-authored the paper ‘Integral Lens’ with professor Mark DeKay, on a multi-perspectival approach to architecture photography. Topographic, editorial and expressive typologies have been practiced concurrently since my initial steps in this genre. The stream of consciousness method of creative process is coupled with a variety of post-processing techniques to bring about these series. Source material, the staring point, are selected from personal projects/subjects as well as commissioned assignments; meta-appropriated to become imaginary realities. Thoughts, feelings and reactions flow uninterrupted by objective descriptions or conventions to form altered scapes. On a transpersonal level, this expressive body of work is a homage to the pioneers of consciousness studies who broke through the mechanistic worldview by expanding our understanding of altered states towards a more holistic one.

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‘No man is an island’ is created from top-down aerial views of natural and man-made coastal areas around Greece, transformed into stand-alone isles. 
‘As above so below’ were inspired by aerial views of salt pans and the way the environment is reflected on those abstract surfaces. The vast area the Messolonghi Lagoon salt pans covers, viewed from a particular birds-eye perspective, mirrors the sky above. This impression is punctuated by cropping and mirroring part of the scene for maximum immersive effect.  
‘Boiling frog syndrome’, in contrast, uses a similar mirroring concept but applied to our densely ad hoc cities and the compression of our urban lifestyle. 
‘Bilbao effect’ is the phenomenon that occurs when a city experiences significant urban transformation, revitalization, and economic growth through the construction of iconic architectural landmarks. A phenomenon that had an impact not only outside the city itself but also inside the architecture firm that designed the museum. 
‘Multiverse’ presents alternate realities juxtaposed together. The original aerial view of a subject is taken through an AI generating software - experimenting with various prompts and filters - and then merged with the original to create a multiverse juxtaposition. 
‘Mazed’ invokes the mixed state we get visiting shopping malls, a mixture of amazement and dazzlement. 
‘Automation’ is an expressive rendition of the test runs done daily to check all the automated systems of the Thessaloniki Metro near its completion. Captured from inside the tunnels during the rare occasions when the electricity on the tracks is off and the trains are moved with the help of locomotive engines. 
‘Quicksilver’ was inspired by escalator railing details of metro stations and their resemblance to the network of interlocking train tracks. Tracking path motion blur was then applied to emphasize movement and mirrored layers overlayed with various blending modes to emulate these complex systems of transportation.
‘Kaleidoscopes’ takes this step farther by creating kaleidoscopic geometrical mandalas of the escalator railings morphed into contemplative abstractions.
‘Meta-appropriations’ experiments with the Adamski effect and 2-axes directional blur pushing the limit of the subject being recognizable while graphically taking it back to the drawing board and mood sketch. 
‘Yin & Yang’ is inspired by the I Ching quote “when things reach the extreme, they alternate to the opposite”. Visual contemplations on our inherent duality.  
‘Unipolar moments’ creates mini-planets out of metropolitan skylines and iconic landmarks, power-symbols of the 20th century at a time of tectonic shifts to a multi-polar world. 

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