Yannis Tzortzis

The Green-Project-Africa (a preview) is the first synoptic presentation under the curation of Nina Kassianou, of the personal witness of Yannis Tzortzis (Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain), who took part in the 20-member mission of the Green Project NGO (GP www.green-project.org) to Africa in the summer of 2010, International Year of Biodiversity. The GP carried out the “green” journey of art & science: “Athens-Cape Town from the waterways to the energy routes”, in the framework of initiatives of the UNESCO, the UNEP and the European Commission.

More particularly, the artist traversed the black continent using low CO2 emission automobiles (the first world-wide attempt of its kind). In this demanding undertaking of 17,500 kilometers and 55 days, he recorded in analogue panoramic photographs, points of environmental interest in 8 African nations (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa).

Moving towards the outer limits of art-photojournalism, Tzortzis used photographs not only as art, but also as a record, aiming to locate opportunities for “green” development on the black continent, running counter to the prevailing prejudices. Projected in his photographs is a “different” aesthetic/moral philosophy about the rational use of natural resources in confronting energy poverty, the opportunity for improvement of living conditions and the protection of biodiversity.

This endeavor constitutes a continuation of the successful road trip of 2008 “Green Project in Asia”, which was presented at the Athens Photo Festival 2009, at 798 Anniart 2010 in Beijing and won the award of the Festival International de l’Image Environnementale 2010 in Paris.