Artist
John Robokos
John Robokos was born in 1972 in Athens and grew up in Krines, Corinth. He studied Statistics at Athens University of Economics and Business and lives in Athens.
He has been dealing with photography in his artistic practice since 2013, attending courses organized by the Municipality of Maroussi, under the general supervision and responsibility of the photographer Dionysis Koutsis. He is a member of the Hellenic Photographic Society
Portfolio: John Robokos
My name is John Robokos and I live in Athens. I have been dealing with photography since 2013. I have taken part in several photography exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Usually, my images are moments that I capture on the streets of the city. I try to tell stories with these images, without always considering the human presence necessary. My photographic obsession is to discover the beautiful side of the dark and depressing urban landscape. I believe that by observing the most insignificant information on the streets, you can, through the lens of the camera, highlight and tell stories that tell little jokes, that talk about social problems, that express your deepest thoughts. Although the urban landscape influences most of my photographic work, it is an important personal need to record the landscape of my place of origin, Corinth, with my work “homeland”, looking for my childhood memories in the present.
Within this project, we have been selecting every year a number of 5 artists to represent what we believed to be interesting and worthy in photography at that moment. This year, we have decided upon new names from different countries: Dirk Hardy, John Robokos, Pascual Rosales, Sara Meinz, and Younes Mohammad. Their work has been carefully analysed and selected during an online portfolio review judged by international curators, to represent Photo Romania in Futures 2021.
Dirk Hardy is a photographer that shows a strong understanding of how to develop and present projects. Although a young artist, he understands how to build a
project and to visually present it to the audience. We particularly liked his Void project, which has been featured several times in international events, including an exhibition in Romania.
John Robokos is a Greek artist specialised in instant street photography. We chose his work because he attempts and succeeds in capturing beauty in dark and
depressing urban landscapes.
Pascual Rosales is a Spanish photographer focused on using visual storytelling about the stories that each of us can carry inside. His project Salt eats stone is a story about the people and the places consumed by time, where salt is the substitute for the passage of time.
Sara Meinz is another Spanish photographer whose work strives for documentary and portraiture. Through her work, she seeks the hidden messages of ordinary life, often exploring society, the human-made landscape, and nature’s resilience.
Younes Mohammad is a Kurdish freelance photographer working and telling the stories of the people that live in his country. Younes hopes that, through this work of exploring conflict and post-conflict humanitarian issues, the world may better understand what these people and their families have given for the Kurdish people, the region, and, in fact, for the world.