George Poulakis self portraits

Unique Edition

Surely I’m not the first bisexual, trilingual, multi-faceted “individual” with an inherent pessimism that comes from a mental health trifecta of anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder* to receive an autism diagnosis at the age of 42 – bit of a late bloomer. Trying to better understand myself through self-portraiture, this work is an exploration of my identity told through the lens of my own experiences, and informed by those who have shaped me.

*Not the fun kind of OCD where you live in an immaculately clean house, but the debilitating kind that leaves you endlessly counting syllables (that’s 39, by the way).

From the Inside Looking Out

The Discovery and the Revelation

Darkness Prevails

From the Inside Looking Out

1/19

Shadows Within

This series explores the duality of identity; the façade that we sometimes present to the world, and the selves that we inhabit when we are alone. I set out to examine these facets of my own personality, looking at the truth buried beneath the façade. My images are a reflection of my state of mind, of how it perpetually oscillates between hope and despair. Light is glimpsed, but is otherwise absent, cloaked by a darkness that stems from within. I am intrigued by this dichotomy of darkness and light, and by the balance that is formed when these two diametrically opposed elements come together.

It is this spectrum – this grey-area of uncertainty – which forms the basis of my work.

Isolation

Irrelevance

And the importance of touch

Isolation

1/14

FLUX

Created during Melbourne’s stage 4 lockdown of 2020, this work is a reflection of the constant state of uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each image represents this period of anxiety, and the resulting disconnect caused by such an unprecedented deprivation of human interaction of this magnitude.

These photographs were produced using an experimental technique in which thousands of frames from a moving image are combined to create a single photograph. Capturing this motion in camera allowed me to embrace the unexpected.

Incubus (untitled #01)

Incubus (untitled #02)

Incubus (untitled #09)

Incubus (untitled #01)

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Incubus

This series aims to explore our fears, anxieties, and the ostensibly incoherent ramblings of our subconscious. This concept stemmed from my fascination with the idea that dreams are an entirely personal experience, and that any attempt to translate the visual sensations of a dream through words alone is ultimately futile. Instead I have created these glimpses of terror, which take the viewer on a journey through the darkest corners of my psyche.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

All you do is press the button, right?

As a photographer, the creative decisions you must make before releasing the shutter vary from the nuanced to the extreme. Before I even pick up the camera I must first determine what I want to communicate. Only then can I decide on the approach that will allow me to most effectively create the “correct” exposure. This playful series acts as an exercise in style, demonstrating just a small range of the myriad ways in which one can interpret and shoot a “normal” portrait.

The Projected Self (untitled #01)

The Projected Self (untitled #02)

The Projected Self (untitled #04)

The Projected Self (untitled #01)

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The Projected Self

This work examines the duality of identity, and a perpetual struggle to belong. Captured entirely in-camera, this series of self-portraits reflects the introspective nature of my craft, in which I treat the self like a still life, building a narrative through the careful arrangement of my subject. Through my explorative approach, I use abstraction to embrace the ambiguous.