Omiros and our ongoing jam sessions

What can I say about Omiros Panayides? How can I sum up our collaboration and friendship over the years?

I could make the bold statement that my work is mostly seen through his lens. What I mean is.. whenever my work takes on a physical form be it postcards, boxes, books or exhibitions, it almost always passes through him. In a way, when people think of my work beyond prints or the images themselves on social media, what they’re really seeing is Omiros’s work.
We’re intertwined in many ways, yet very different at the same time.

But to truly understand this partnership, I need to go back to the beginning. It’s something I’ve always wanted to write down, partly to document it and partly just to reflect on it.

We first met in 2006 or 2007, at Frederick University during my bachelor’s degree. Omiros was a professor of graphic design back then, in his first year of teaching. These were the years of early digital cameras and DVD rental stores (I worked at one of those, here is the proof).

I remember us vibing from the start. He was teaching us Photoshop, and it was the very early days of my photographic “addiction.” I think he noticed that spark in me.

I used to work at a DVD store during that period and yes thats me at university, the hair was… wild. Last image is Omiros at his office at DRAW

After that, we lost touch for years. Then, around 2013, he and another former professor of mine, Constantinos Economides, asked me to come by and create some images at their new design co-working space/concept store called

DRAW, for those of you Nicosians who remember it.

During that time and in the year after, I started working closely with Constantinos, photographing his projects. Then in 2014, they asked me to come by the new space, and Omiros was launching his personal series of notepads called papernotes. I don’t remember exactly how it unfolded or what was said, but we ended up spending the whole day working together. I think we wrapped up after midnight, leaving with the most random results and this feeling that we had made something fucking awesome. Looking back, it was pretty clear, that was the beginning of an awesome partnership.

In the years since, we’ve kept working together in all sorts of ways, both small and big. From huge projects like Life with Vultures and Kochinohoma – Red Soil, to publications like Aspelia Naturalis, and plenty of others already discussed (and more still in the pipeline).

DRAW Team, from left to right, Constantinos Economides, Marios Charalambous, Omiros Panayides, Marina Sofroniou

But I also wanted to share another side of our collaborations, not him as the designer working on my things, but me as the photographer documenting his. He’s the only other person (other than Thalis) for whom I do this. Not out of obligation, but because our sessions together are so loose, experimental and fun, that I actually look forward to them every year.

There’s something very freeing about it: a few lights, random props, music, food, coffee or beers, just the two of us jamming, messing about, making things up as we go. And because it doesn’t sit inside my usual “canon” of work, it feels different, lighter, like play. Almost like being a kid again, creating without a single thought or expectation in my mind.

And the results never stopped being unexpected. It’s amazing how many fun ways you can find to frame, stack, and play with books and the different creations that he comes up with.