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STAVROS PIPPOS Stavros’ work as a
landscape photographer has been a lifelong passion which has taken him to
experience places he would never had ventured if it were not for his passion
to photograph our landscape. Flooded rivers and wilderness, hundreds of kilometres of
harsh desert, all to capture that
‘once in a lifetime’ picture. He started as a
young boy using his mothers Kodak six-20 camera filming around his home town
of Mullumbimby, north coast N.S.W. He cycled into rain forests to photograph
wild orchids and to search intriguing creek beds. This new hobby fulfilled both his creative
need and his love for the outdoors. Starting in 1963
and lasting for 32 years he worked for Channel 7 as a studio cameraman. In
this job he trained his eye to instantly pre-visualise a scene, a time when
split second judgements were
important and which he now values this training in the formatting of a landscape or panoramic frame. From studio
cameraman he moved to producing and directing television shows, drawing upon
many skills such as composition and lighting. Stavros later
retired, he had already produced two books and his passion to photograph our
magnificent country strengthened, gaining much inspiration from artist like
Sir Hans Heysen, Ivor Hele and others.
The skills he learnt in the studio, that of composition and
lighting remain the basis for every
picture he photographs today. Stavros mostly
chooses subjects that distinctively display Australia’s sunburnt landscape
and beauty, others are to reveal its harshness, but common to all is the
wonderful and natural light. His
challenge as a photographer is to capture each landscape study at the precise
moment when subtleties of light and shade combine with texture, form and
colour top produce the most artistically satisfying result. Artist
Statement: “I am very fortunate that South
Australia remains relatively undiscovered. The ever-changing coastline facing
the Southern Ocean offers stunning seascapes, while the mountain scenery,
especially that of the Flinders Ranges, and the pristine deserts in the north
of the state are landscapes made for the artist.” He has produced
several books of his photographic journey, the last one being ‘Light on
Earth’, but still there is more in him that he wants to express and another
book is in the process. His book
‘Shades of Ochre’ won him both the National Gold Award for printing excellence and the coveted Heidelberg
Australia Award for excellence in craft. The photographs he
produces are done to the highest photographic quality and museum standard, each photo is hand processed
from an original transparency and glued onto a sheet of polished aluminium
for longevity. His photographs are
on a limited edition, and his books and pictures can be seen and purchased from the David Sumner Gallery in S.A. |
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