Talented photographer Panagiotis Filippou sets up workshops in Meteora

At the young age of seven, with an old Kodak camera that his father bought him, Panagiotis Filippou clicked the shutter button and snapped his first image, which was of his family.

“I was really obsessed with freezing time and memories in so many ways. I found myself studying under a scholarship in the UK, Newcastle Business school as a BSIT student, when I had an amazing experience taking photos with my first used SLR Nikon that I could afford as a student, and which I still have. That was the first time I took photography seriously and advanced from point and shoot to aperture and manual mode,” says Panagiotis.

After completing his studies, he moved back to Greece, completed his military duties, and since then has travelled to many countries pursuing his passion. Over the past year, Panagiotis went to Romania for a photography project regarding monasteries and Christian Orthodoxy.

Panagiotis did not attend photography school, as he believes photography is self-taught.

"I owe everything I learned to the camera itself. It has always been a challenge for me to get anything in my hands and take it to its limits. Not because I want to destroy it but because I treat it as a person. I want to bring the best out of it. And if you don’t take good pictures, do not blame the camera. I push myself in self-taught new techniques and explore new pathways in photography and cinematography.”

The talented photographer is also famous for his involvement in the Giannis Antetokounmpo's Graffiti project and says he has always been a fan of the Greek Freak.  Panagiotis' was honoured when he received a call asking him to urgently work on the ‘NIKE project’ highlighting Giannis' successful career.

"My heart skipped a beat and of course I said yes. I grabbed all I could fit on a plane and it took us three days to complete all scenes."

"The most important thing for me was highlighting Giannis' as a survivor, as I have always considered Giannis as a survivor, and I do have this thing for survivors, as I myself am one, having survived cancer at the age of 32 years old with very little chances of making it. I know what it is like to have all your hope in faith and what it takes to make a small step at a time. The struggle and to have no money even for the basics. I remember the costs of the chemo treatments, PetScans etc, and there were days I barely had just enough to reach the hospital. So yes, the only thing that really made me say yes is that I saw Giannis as a survivor and I felt like doing it for myself.”

The other stand out project he says was ‘Greek Skies’ which started out of nowhere and became a journey of Greece through time-lapse, "It won a dozen worldwide awards in film festivals, including at the Hollywood Independent Documentary Awards for 'Best of the Fest.'"

When asked about dream places to photograph, he confesses the list is long however it includes Chile, the 12 Apostles in Australia, Pinnacles (the formations within Nambung National Park) and New Zealand. 

“My dream ever since 2014, was to create a movement in Central Greece that would support kids with cancer within the University Hospital. I have lived it and felt how it is in hospitals that I have been in. I am hoping that the next film/documentary I work on will succeed and allow me to have some income and raise money for this purpose. Also, my few photo galas will contribute to that.”

Panagiotis is also very excited to announce to this year he has teamed up for an exclusive collaboration with the biggest Tour Operator of Central Greece, Visit Meteora for Workshops in beautiful Meteora!

“We managed with concrete collaborations to be able to secure some awesome and free professional gear for each participant of each workshop and we wanted to celebrate it accordingly by thanking each participant and making his/her first workshop in Greece a really unforgettable experience. We will be hosting photography workshops, private and group ones, tours in all Thessaly, with our new exclusive collaborator Visit Meteora!” he said.

Panagiotis is offering 15% OFF for everyone who wants to attend the workshops using the coupon code ‘GCT’.

For more information visit: 

panosphotographia.com/workshops 

panosphotographia.com/meteoraworkshop/