The new photopoetic composition of Stavros Messinis Iland will be launched by the Greek Centre for Contemporary Culture, on Saturday 30 April, at 2 pm. The photobook Iland will be launched by Esther Anatolitis, one of Australia’s leading advocates of the arts, cultural and creative industries, and an honorary assistant professor at RMIT University’s School of the Arts in Melbourne.

From Friday 29 April until Sunday 1 May, a special exhibition of the Iland is also organized on the mezzanine floor of the Greek Centre. The exhibition will be open to the public from 11 am to 6 pm. Admission will be free. The exhibition will take place on the mezzanine floor of the Greek Centre (Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne) and will include the display of the book, a special concertina edition of the book that spreads on a special base, as well as the projection of images on a large surface.

The photographic composition Iland by Stavros Messinis is the result of nearly four years of research and photographic experimentation, which took place during his postgraduate studies. It must be noted that the book has been designed, inkjet printed on high-quality print and bound by the artist himself.

“One Sunday morning, early in January 2020, I was walking with a friend around the Churchill Island, a small island near San Remo, Victoria. We were discussing the poem Ithaca by Constantine P. Cavafy, and at the same time, I was taking photographs,” explains Stavros Messinis talking about his Iland project.

“This is a place I visit often, and it feels like ‘home’. In the area we were walking, the sense of desolation, abandonment, isolation, and the struggle for survival that was evident not only in the region’s natural environment but also in the wildlife, as well as the conversation of Cavafy’s poem, made me begin to think about the idea of the Iland photopoetry series.”

Iland consists of a series of photopoems arranged together in a cinematic sequence, without conscious thought or the need to follow a specific narrative, and all together visually and aesthetically indicate the realisation of a poetic journey in an indefinite time and dimension leading to an imaginative “homeland”. The photobook is developed in a way that it can be entered at different points and doesn’t require chronological reading.

“It attempts to establish a ‘personal place’, which enlightens my artistic expression and perception, as well as my emotions and thoughts on what is happening around me,” says Stavros. talking about his photopoetic series.

The images convey allegorical and metaphorical meanings related to a journey towards a photopoetic homeland. Mysterious, abstract and surrealistic photos of clouds, seascapes, landscapes, houses, trees, people, boats, sunsets and sunrises, together with colour abstract and surrealistic video stills, evolve into a surreal, visually chaotic and indefinite journey, full of surprises and emotions. Poetry, photography and technology collaborate in the development of a creative poetic expression leading to personal reading and interpretation of the journey to Iland.

“This is a big project and the result of extensive research and study in the context of my postgraduate studies,” says Stavros Messinis.

“Endless hours of research, study, experimentation with various techniques and methods, led to the printed photographic composition Iland. In short, it is a journey to an artistic Ithaca, a photopoetic space, where I always return as an artist to express myself.”

Stavros Messinis’s research and work concern photopoetry, the relationship between poetry and photography, and the possibilities offered by contemporary photography for photopoetry to function as an independent art form. That is, creating photopoems without the use of words or written poems.

“Traditionally, photopoetry is based on the collaboration of poetry and photography. In my new work, I try to create photopoems without the use of words or poems. I create photopoems in a similar way as when I write poetry. It could be said that I create poems with light. Iland is the result of many days of experimentation and mixing of photographs, and personal interventions on the surface of images in various ways.”

During his postgraduate studies towards a Master of Arts Photography, Stavros was mentored by some of the most distinguished academics and artists, such as Dr Kristian Häggblom, Daniel Boetker-Smith, Clare Rae, Dr Hoda Afshar, Dr David Rozesky and Brie Trenerry, and the prolific international artists Sarker Protick, Hajime Kimura and VOID’s photobook publisher and editor Myrto Steirou.

“With their assistance and guidance, I was able to move more effectively in the realisation of the Iland project and the creation of a handmade photobook,” Stavros explains.

“My images have been focused on a series of photos taken during 2020 and 2021 in Victoria and archive photos taken in places I have lived and travelled: Australia, China and Europe. These images allow me to visualise the concept of Iland and in relation to the island of Ithaca, which in our Hellenic culture conveys a strong meaning of the journey, homeland and homecoming. Conceptually, I am moving further, connecting the Iland to my personal poetic homeland as an artist.”

Stavros is an award-winning photographer. He studied photography and journalism in Greece and Australia. His works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions. His photographic edition Dream State won the “Best Photo Book Design Award 2018” at the “CCP Salon 2018” of the Centre for Contemporary Photography (Australia), and was also selected for the “Australia and New Zealand Photo Book Award 2018”. Dream State has been featured in photography festivals in Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and India. He recently published two more photography books: The Scream and Rebirth.

The exhibition and book launch is supported by: The Greek Community of Melbourne, The Greek Centre for Contemporary Culture, the Greek Quarter, the Greek Australian Cultural League, The Photography Studies College, and M+Art Books.