Art: Nikolas Karathanasis, @nikolas_k_photography
TO THE GRAIL
It is a symphony of feet in the midst of fireworks and lights;
they come, they go, hesitate, return, turn around, and back;
insane in their indecision, shoes of sports, and pumps of circumstance,
molding unruly ankles, protecting their wiggly toes.
And what do they want these calves, unable to take a moment’s
rest. Wrapped up in silk, enveloped in cotton, even boldly plain?
A door opens, another closes, and again the silly melody;
voices contract, voices retract, while many convey.
A mad world constrained, as in an alley where elbows are at war.
He and she, past, new, with the little one often or a friend,
Maybe. Hustle, bustle, rustle, wrestle also on this hectic morn’;
joy, smiles, laughter, and the flow of plastic into the register.
The deed is done; life begins anew there, elsewhere,
with the sweet aroma teasing the noble nostrils of all lovers;
hands on the wheel of destiny, fortune is theirs,
now that they have earned and secured the holy grail.
About the author:
Fabrice Poussin teaches French and English at Shorter University. Author of novels and poetry, his work has appeared in Kestrel, Symposium, The Chimes, and dozens of other magazines. His photography has been published in The Front Porch Review, the San Pedro River Review and more than 300 other publications.
Poussin is adviser for The Chimes, the Shorter University award winning poetry and arts publication. His writing and photography have been published in print, including Kestrel, Symposium, La Pensee Universelle, Paris, and more than 300 other art and literature magazines in the United States and abroad.
Art: Nikolas Karathanasis, @nikolas.karathanasis
In the artist’s words:
I am Nikolas Karathanasis, living in Athens, Greece. My implication with photography began several years ago. I associate my work with black and white film through experiment and research; the smell of chemicals, the joy & excitement of composition. Within the past years, I work with digital photography. I have participated in several exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Facts, pictures of everyday life, ideas, people and their passions, whatever moves in the space of exaggeration. All this is inspirational to me. Photography, as I see it, means communication with the world and this is my motivation. I use many photographic techniques and skills to frame daily scenes and to manipulate the light so to build a bridge of communication with people, in a subtle way. This becomes a vessel for sharing ideas, thoughts and feelings. In so, we are extracted from loneliness, and create a humane environment. New perspectives for the mind to walk on, think, wonder. The photos I send you hereby are from a project I am working since late of 2016 under the name: “Surrealism Fragments in daily life.” Captured scenes of daily life in the realm of surrealism as a result of the contrasts we face everyday at home, at work, in relationships. These are the moments when the subconscious combines the fields of reality & imaginary and visualizes images of positive emotions, anxiety, fear, hope.