Charalambos Kidonakis (dirtyharrry)

Charalambos Kidonakis @dirtyharrry (English text)

Charalambos Kidonakis (dirtyharrry) was born and raised in Crete and studied architecture in Thessaloniki. He's been involved in photography since 1997, but more consciously since 2008 onward. He's taken part in various web magazines, in certain exhibitions across Greece and abroad and he edits "dirty blog". He's been a member of iN-PUBLiC since 2015.

How did the nickname dirtyharrry occur?

I think there's more photogeny in dirt than in cleanliness, neatness or any other similar notion, that's why I call my photographs "dirty photos". Harrry is a shortened form of my name in English and the result of combining both was my nickname.

Are you more well-known as a photographer abroad? In the end, is it true that Greece is unfair to its own children?

What I've shot I've mainly shown on the internet, so I don't know whether my presence is entirely 'palpable'. Things are really hard in our country today, but I don't know if it's easier abroad.

Nothing is free, neither in Greece nor elsewhere, everything is achieved through toil wherever you might be.

How's life in New York? What are your next steps?

New York is so expensive that my options are limited. Still, I can walk every day until my legs won't hold me and observe everything. I've seen some wonderful exhibitions and speeches, and some not so impressive. I take photographs, I did some workshops, I met some amazing people through them, people with whom I hang out, I've been in trouble on the street, all these together...I'm positive that I have not regretted coming here. I will return to Greece and then act accordingly. The way things are now, it is difficult to make long term plans.

What does photography mean to you?

I don't know exactly what photography is to me. It is certainly something I've dedicated a lot of time and effort to, since I started.

However, the more I shoot and think photography, the more I understand what I want and at the same time get more confused about what it is that I want...

dirtyharrry.com @efsyn_newspaper