As someone who works in IT and has known the internet since its earliest days, it was only natural that, at some point, around 2013, I think, I would become aware of a Greek website offering news, gear reviews, and photography-related content. And so, through PTTL.gr, and soon afterwards through the Angle of View podcast on Facebook and YouTube, I came to know Vaios Vitos from afar, across the digital distance.
With only a few years behind me as a photography enthusiast, that website, and especially its YouTube channel, made me feel the presence of others like me, people who were thirsty for more Greek-language content online. It was a time that my passion for photography was losing ground to family life, having a newborn and all that, and Vaios’s PTTL was the harbour I needed in order to keep that interest alive.
Endless FotoView discussions with Vasilis Dimakis as co-traveller, funny mishaps with microphone failures during live broadcasts, tutorials, and many guests were all there to give me the photographic injections I so badly needed. It is therefore a great honour for us to have Vaios answer our Five Questions, presenting a small glimpse of his work. Thank you kindly Vaios.
Harrys Pourouzidis
1) Your love for wildlife photography is well known to all of us. What was it that sparked the beginning of this special relationship you have with this genre?
My first contact with nature came when I was a child, through summer camps and Scouting. That was where my love for nature was born.
Around the same time, reading National Geographic created within me, without realising it, a love for capturing images of nature, landscapes, and the wild animals of our world.
What truly sparked my love for wildlife photography, however, was visiting Lake Kerkini. Personally, I consider Kerkini the most important, and at the same time the easiest, place in Greece for coming into contact with wild animals living freely in nature.
That said, I do not really see myself as a wildlife photographer. I see myself more as an image-maker who enjoys being out in nature, capturing both its grandeur and the challenges it faces because of human activity.
What is often called conservation photography and filmmaking is, for me, a more important mission than a single click of a wild animal that may enchant the viewer. In particular, highlighting the problems wild animals face today is the mission that interests me more than simply photographing a wild animal.
2) You have delved deeply into what we call gear reviews, both through your earlier experience in a photography retailer store and through the many presentations on PTTL.gr and YouTube. Which photographic technological achievement has impressed you the most over the years?
Leaving aside the revolution that digital technology brought to photography, which remains the most important milestone in the history of photography so far, what I would now single out is the arrival of mirrorless cameras. The ability to shoot at high speed, autofocus using AI technologies, and improved performance in low light have radically changed the way we photograph.
In addition, mirrorless cameras unlocked another creative field for photographers: video creation. The cameras being produced today are no longer simply “photographic” cameras or video cameras. They are powerful tools capable of working magic in the hands of anyone who wants to express themselves through image-making, whether through photography or video.
The arrival and evolution of mirrorless cameras have blurred the line between photographer and videographer. Today, we speak more of the image-maker, a creator with countless ways ahead of them to realise an artistic vision based on the capturing of images.
3) If your phone rang, which famous photographer would you want to be on the other end of the line, inviting you on a photographic road trip? Where would you want that journey to be, and why that photographer?
For this question, the answer could not be just one name. Speaking of Greek image-makers, the person I would have wanted to follow on an assignment is, unfortunately, no longer with us, but I believe he deserves to be mentioned. I am speaking of the great Yannis Behrakis, whom I met through my participation in the first photojournalism workshop where he shared his knowledge some years ago. His presence, both as a photographer and as a human being, shook me deeply. His philosophy regarding image-making and its importance for society is something I always carry in my mind. What I would not give to have been able to follow him on one of his assignments.
If I were to choose a foreign photographer, without limiting ourselves to those still alive, I would choose Ansel Adams. I think the era in which he worked was one when creating images of nature was an enormous challenge, and Adams managed to set the standard for all of us who came after him as to what can be considered an exceptional nature photograph, especially in landscape photography.
Leaving aside photographers who are no longer with us, if the phone rang today, I would want the great Sebastião Salgado to be on the other end of the line. After studying his work, and especially his book Amazônia, I would want to follow him deep into the Amazon and capture what humanity has lost along the path of its evolution: pure contact with nature and its creatures.
Of course, someone might say that none of these photographers is a wildlife photographer. So, if I were to choose a wildlife photographer, it would be the great Paul Nicklen, because his work captures in a unique way the connection between human survival and nature, especially the aquatic world.
The four photographers I have mentioned are not choices based only on the greatness of their photographic work. All four are people whose philosophy has, at its core, a love for human beings and nature, and whose aim is to reveal the challenges that must be overcome if humanity as a whole is to evolve into a society based on solidarity with both people and the natural world.
4) Wildlife photography requires great patience. How do you prepare before going into the field, and how do you know when you have reached your limits for the day?
Preparation begins with choosing the animal I would like to photograph. It is closely connected to the season in which I can approach it without my presence causing a problem, as well as to the weather conditions I will have to face.
An important part of that preparation is also studying the animal I intend to photograph and its habits.
Defining the goal and planning the outing form the largest part of the preparation. Preparing the equipment is now second nature to me. It neither worries me nor takes up much of my time.
As for how long I stay in the field, that has less to do with my physical endurance and more to do with achieving the goal. If I consider it necessary, I choose to remain in one spot all day and wait to see whether I will be lucky enough to get the shots I want.
Even when the body may be demanding that I abandon the effort, the final decision depends on whether I am satisfied with the result I have in my hands. That means, yes, many times I really am at my limits. But it is something I have become used to, and it no longer troubles me.
As one can understand, in wildlife photography, achieving the goal is never guaranteed, no matter how well prepared you are. Animals do not take instructions, nor are they always consistent in their habits.
Most of the time, creating images that stand out and offer a different view from the usual is extremely difficult. But a wildlife photographer does not draw satisfaction only from a click they believe is exceptional. What matters is the contact with nature and its creatures. The excitement of capturing a powerful image of an animal is the same as the excitement of simply having it appear before you, especially when we are talking about animals that are difficult to locate and see from a relatively close distance.
5) Can you share with us a special moment or story from a photoshoot?
After about twenty years involved in photography, and fewer than ten in nature and wildlife photography, I feel there are many stories I could share. I will focus, however, on the past year, and speak about the relationship I have developed in recent months with Drasi Gia Tin Agria Zoi — Action for Wildlife — the organisation in Thessaloniki that cares for wild animals.
Through my frequent presence at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, I have developed greater sensitivity and deeper respect for wild animals. Creating photographs and videos for the organisation has changed the way I approach my contact with animals, and has led me to a deeper understanding of their struggle for survival.
Without focusing on one specific moment, I want to say that being present to document the efforts of the organisation’s people and volunteers is a very important mission for me. Those efforts, the love with which the animals are approached, the emotion that comes with their successful treatment, and the anxiety over their successful return to their natural environment are things that restore my faith in humanity.
If I had to choose one moment from everything I have experienced with the people of Drasi, I would choose the release of an injured fox last December.
The moment the fox hesitantly left its cage and stepped out, free once more, onto the mountain was deeply moving for everyone involved in the release process. I felt it too, even though my own participation was limited to documenting that release.
Since we are having this conversation, I would like to invite anyone who can to support Action for Wildlife in whatever way is possible for them. As is always the case with organisations of this kind, even the smallest help is extremely important.
Follow Vaios Vitos and his photographic and videographic journey on social media:
Instagram: @vaios.vitos
Facebook: vaios.vitos
TikTok: @vaios.vitos
YouTube:
YouTube: @pttlGR
Website: www.vaiosvitos.com
Website: www.pttl.gr
For those interested in learning more about the volunteer group Action for Wildlife, you can visit their website at https://drasi-agriazoi.gr/ and see all the news, announcements, and ways in which you too can help.
