Catharsis I – In Your Shadow © Julia Anna Gospodarou 2013

(catharsis = purification, renewal, reborn of the soul and spirit through art)

Metsovo, Pindus Mountains, Greece

After the “black” series …now I’m going to the other extreme to explore white. Starting a new series, quite different from what you’d expect from me, but perfectly fit in my process of experimenting with ways to convey my ideas and feelings through my images, which is my main goal in photography, why I do it in the first place (yes, art is a selfish act for me :). And also perfectly fit with my aesthetic patterns and the way I see the world, which in a nutshell is that I’m both in love with architecture and with nature. Some parts of me resonate to the one, some other are touched by the other. This time I was fascinated by the silence and the purifying power of a snowy scene.
I believe a mountain covered in fresh snow is one of the best places to find oneself and make peace with one’s past, present and future. That’s why the title I gave to this series. The removal of almost all the things we normally see in a scene and that remind us about life as it is, which is what the snow does to a place, suddenly brings to surface the spirit of the place, purified of everything, showing its primordial state and this has an extremely powerful effect on our spirit and soul, purifying and liberating them. The day I went to this mountain to take the shots you will see in this series was one of the very few times that I can see snow here in Greece. So me being there at the right moment was a big joy, especially that I was trying to photograph this place under snow for a few years already, but never had the right conditions. This time it was both about planning and also about luck, so I wanted to take full advantage of it. I tried to move away from the “civilization” so I went further into the mountain till I couldn’t see any other being around me and the experience of standing there, in the middle of all this untouched white, with a snowstorm that was getting quite strong from time to time to whip my face, all this I can tell you was an unbelievable gnostic experience. When you’re there surrounded by nothing but white, you feel for a moment like the only human being in the whole universe. And everything seems possible then….

Technical details: 
handheld shot 1/125 @ f/9,0, Tamron 18-270mm f/3,5-6,3 PZD @ 18mm, ISO 100, Processing: LR4, PS CS6, SilverEfex Pro2

Julia Anna Gospodarou – (en)Visionographer

Julia Anna Gospodarou is an architect with a Master degree, a multiple award-winning black and white fine art photographer, (en)Visionographer, author and sought-after educator, founder of (en)Visionography™ and Photography Drawing™, author of the best-selling book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography (co-author Joel Tjintjelaar), with high distinctions in the most important photography competitions worldwide, published internationally in numerous books and magazines, passionate about beauty and  trying to spread it into the world.