Tzeli Hadjidimitriou

I am a photographer, a writer, and a filmmaker, but I am also a researcher of authenticity. I grew up on the Greek island of Lesvos, where ever since I was a young girl I was fascinated by the quality of the light there. But I left and became a world traveler. I am an artist, moving from one to the other, following my inside need for expression. In my documentaries, I use all my experiences and capacities, aiming to give space and voice to ordinary people, who are not famous or considered extraordinary in any way, but who live their lives in simplicity, outside the daily headlines.

Everything becomes more alive and present through light; this is the key to my art. .

Biography

Tzeli Hadjidimitriou is a researcher of authenticity, an independent filmmaker, a fine art photographer, and a travel writer from Lesbos, Greece. She is the author of six photography books, including the award-winning “39 Coffee houses and a barber’s shop”, “In Communion with Stone” (Crete University Press) and “Time Fading Into Clouds” (Metaixmio), with work shown in museums and galleries in Greece and abroad. She is also the author of guidebooks to the Greek islands of Kythira and Lesbos and has published many articles about her global travels to South Korea, India, Cambodia, Laos and other destinations in the Greek Press. In her Odoiporikon photography workshops, Hadjidimitriou introduces students of all levels to the “constant journey” of discovering a world flooded with light.

Education

1986 University of Macedonia, Greece, Department of Business Administration, formal "School of

Higher Industrial Studies of Thessaloniki" degree Good

1988 Centro Studi e Produzione Cinema-TV-Video-Fotografia “Maldoror”, Rome, Italy Direction of

Photography for the Cinema

1986 Superior Diploma of an official translator of the Italian Language

Extra Curricular Training

1988 Certificate in video-montage (228 hours) from General Secretary of Equality.

1985 21 July- 19 August Borsary awards Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano under the supervision of Michelangelo Antonioni. “Laboratorio Internazionale della comminicazione sociale, linguistica e letteraria” degree Good.

She worked as a stage photographer, cameraman assistant, in Greek tv series, collaborating with almost all tv channels (Mega, Antenna, ERT, )and major Greek producers, studios (ATA) and directors (D.Vernikos, A.Kessisoglou, K. Katsaris,E Ralli, S.Markidi e.t.c.) She also collaborated with many film and photography directors, including Theo Aggelopoulos, G.Panousopoulos, G.Tsemberopoulos, A.Kessisiglou, and T. Boulmetis. (1988-1998). She also worked as local fixer for BBC.

Filmography

Sappho’s Granddaughters (Grannies) 2017

Salt and Bread 2017 (Sound award, Docfest 2018)

In search of Orpheus 2018 (Best Greek documentary award AegeanDocs 2019)

Mr. Dimitris and Mrs. Dimitroula 2019

A land of silence 2019

Sappho singing 2020

Latest Art Projects

Dancing Nudes: A series of underwater female nudes, taken during the last years in the sea and the baths of Lesvos, Greece. As the light passes through the water and falls on the bodies, it changes their shapes, draws magical designs on the skin and transforms them into mythical creatures that follow alternative rules, unlike those of our human experience on land. (Exhibition and book).

Silent Nights: Nightscapes took around Eressos, during the last four years, with no use of artificial light of any kind. They “describe” the landscape as nightfall approaches, under the moonlight, or even without light at all, catching the sensitive blue intonations of the dark. (Exhibition and book).

Work History

Founder, Wind of Creativity, an NGO dedicated to keeping the memory in Greece alive and establishing a platform for communication with the rest of the world, through light and creativity. (2014)

Books

Her work has received warm reviews from the Greek Press. She also gave many interviews in major Greek Tv and Radio stations (Mega, ERT, Antenna, NET, ERA, Sky e.t.c.)

“Coming from a background in film studies, Tzeli prefers displaying her pictures as a coherent whole and structures her photo-albums in an almost cinematic way.

“What I would like is to plunge the viewer into an atmosphere-to immerse him in a story”.

“Kathimerini-Herald Tribune”

“Invariably, the story she chooses to narrate is neither about sensationalism, shock value or the pursuit of novelty for its own sake. Ignoring contemporary trends, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou turns her back on fleeting impressions, finding pleasure in the more enduring aspects of life.”

“Kathimerini-Herald Tribune”

2013 “In search of Kythera and Antikythera” self-publishing

A traveler’s guide about the island of Kythera and Antikythera; research, texts, and photographs by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou. (English language)

2012 “A girl’s guide to Lesbos” self-publishing

A traveler’s guide about the island of Lesvos with an LGBT orientation; research, texts, and photographs by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou. (English language)

2009 "In Communion With Stone, The Rural Architecture of Lesvos" Crete University Press

Photographic album. Texts: N.Sifounakis, N.Stefanou, Ch.Hatzilias, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou.

2008 “Unexplored Kythera & Antikythera”

A traveler’s guide about the island of Kythera and Antikythera; research, texts, and photographs by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou. Road Editions

2006 “Unexplored Lesvos” Road Editions

A more comprehensive traveler’s guide about the island of Lesvos; research, texts, and photographs by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou.

2003 “Time fading into clouds” Metaichmio Editions

Photographic album. Texts: N. Vatopoulos, N. Chronas, Tz. Hadjidimitriou

2000 “Kythera”. Crete University Press

Photographic album. Preface to the book was the music of Mariza Coch and the verses of N. Kavvadias.

1998 “Urban Housing of the ’30s; Modern Architecture in Pre-war Athens” Nereus Editions

Texts: M. Kardamitsi, N. Meras, P. Nikolaidis, P. Tournikiotis, M. Philippidis, D. Philippidis,

1997 “39 Coffee Houses and a Barber’s shop” Crete University Press

Photographic album. Texts: A. Fasianos, F. Frangouli, G Chronas, E. Papataxiarchis, G. Nikolakakis, Th. Paraskevaidis.

1996 “Sacred Water, The Mineral Springs of Lesvos”. self-publishing

Photographic album. Texts: G. Maniotis, G. Doukakis, Tz. Hadjidimitriou

Exhibitions & Shows Since 1997 she has taken part in several photographic and audiovisual exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Among them:

a. Solo exhibitions

2018 “Under the Dancing Light”, at Kudos Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia

2016 “Aura from the island of Sappho”, at Space Zero, 798 Art Space, Beijing, China. The

well-known poet Lan Lan, presented at the opening of the exhibition, her latest collection of poems, “Sappho: A Loose Bouquet”

2015 “Lesvos, the island of hidden harmony” at Sismanogleio Megaro,

Greek Consulate, Istanbul, Turkey. An exhibition of photos from Lesvos, showing the unique quality of light on the island and the transformation of the landscape through it.

2004 “Time fading into clouds”, at Choros Technis 24 Gallery, Athens,

Greece

1995 “Grecia vista dalla finestra ”, in the Institute of Byzantine Studies, in Venice and in La Plaka

cultural centre, Padua, Italy

Conferences

2014 28-30 November Sabanci University, Coch University, Istanbul Turkey, “Semiha Es, 1st

Women

Photographers International Symposium”.

2013 15-16 February, University of Brighton, Brighton UK, Lesbian Lives Conference, “The Modern

Lesbian”.

Languages

Greek

Italian

English