Chris Gouberis(Greece)
As an artist, I have developed my style through the years from a film photographer to a digital one and vice versa.
I’m a full-time wedding destination fine art photographer currently based in Athens, traveling worldwide, but I was born and raised in Thessaloniki in 1975. My passion for Photography led me to The Technological Educational Institute of Athens at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design in the Photography Department in 1995. After al-most five years of studies and spending one year under scholarship at L’Ecole de L’Art de la Photographie “Le 75” in Brussels, I took my diploma in 2000 with specialty in Fine Art Photography, Digital Image Processing, Advertising and Archaeological Photography, as well as in Chemistry of Photographic materials.
For me, photography is all about capturing the in-betweens, a glance, a kiss, a hug that others might not even notice, a reflection of true feelings under the nature’s reflections of light. It is a mean of placing my eyes but most of all my heart on the same continuum, a way of living life and communicating with other humans and nature to the fullest. I’m always searching for ways to portray the connection between humans and nature. Through my photos I am trying to project my personality, my passion and my spirit, betting every time how much of those I receive as a recurring feedback.
In May 2016 I decided to change my gear. So I started looking for different options on the internet. Since I am coming from the time that film was the mean to shoot and having Nikon FM2 as a student at Photography School, a simple, light mechanical machine with the best functions needed for a photographic result in front of you, without menus, I was looking for something similar.
So, once I saw FUJIFILM and X-Pro2 in particular, I felt that this would be the change I had to make, in order to unlock myself and get out the best of me as a photographer. This is exactly what happened. Within a week I sold my existing DSLR cameras and lenses and became Fujifilm Lover. After two years and thousands of photos, X-Pro2 has become the extension of both, my hand and my photographic perspective.
Working with the X-Pro2 has opened up new ways of shooting for me, where I can go unnoticed during a wedding. This little camera packs such a punch for its relatively compact size. I use it when I am shooting the preparation stage of a wedding day and for candid images throughout the day, the ceremony, the reception, engagements, day after sessions, in a word I use it for every click. It’s quiet, subtle, and super quick. It does the perfect job when I want to wander around and take images and remain unnoticed at the same time.
I have an ongoing love affair with light. Perhaps to blame, is the fact that I live in Greece, where light is the power of everything. I do summer weddings in greek islands like Mykonos surrounded by white houses reflecting greek light that is already powerful. The X-Pro2 and the rest FUJIFILM gear gave me the opportunity to get fully advantage of the above situations and my photos have the feeling and tones of film I had used to work with. To accomplish that I use FujiFilm Simulation Profiles and particularly CLASSIC CHROME which gives me a soft color and enhanced shadow contrast for a calm look.
