A CONVERSATION WITH VISUAL ARTIST STYLIANOS PAPARDELAS
Stylianos Papardelas
Photographer. Documentary maker. Traveller of 40 countries. Currently at home on the island of Crete — where the sea teaches patience and the light teaches everything else.
Based InCrete, Greece
Countries40+
BookDuality
PartnerBarretstown / Paul Newman
When I am present, literally everything is interesting to me. But the moments I feel the biggest inspiration is when I am in love — falling in love, truly, selflessly.
From Iguazú to India to a Mountain at 4,090 Metres Above the World
In fifteen years of continuous movement, Stylianos has photographed miners inside a mountain, lived with families on railroad tracks in India, and stood before the immense curtain of water at Iguazú Falls. His first book, Duality, emerged from this relentless pursuit of life at its edges. He also worked at Barretstown, the extraordinary organisation founded by Paul Newman in Ireland — proof that creativity and compassion are never separate endeavours.
I hold the person I am in love with and I cannot tell the difference between my body and theirs. These moments have allowed me to understand that there is no separation between us and everything else in the Universe.
The Greatest Muse Is
Another Human Being
Stylianos speaks about inspiration with the conviction of someone who has found it at both the summit and the depths. When he is fully present, he says, everything becomes interesting. But there is one state that surpasses all others.
Falling in love — truly, selflessly — is the source from which all his greatest work has flowed. In those moments of complete union with another person, the boundaries of self dissolve, and something larger becomes possible.
His greatest personal influences remain closer to home: his mother, one of the most creative humans he knows, with a deep soul; and his father, one of the most social and good-hearted souls that exists. The world gave him Jane Goodall. Five minutes in her presence, he says, changed his life entirely.
I love feeding myself real data. I love exploring anything I possibly can. I have learned everything from people.
The Art of Looking
Before Making
Stylianos describes his creative process not as a method, but as a way of being. He spends most of his time looking, listening, feeling, discussing, experiencing — absorbing life rather than recording it.
He does not need to write everything down. Having the actual experience gives him the sensual connections to eventually remember the ideas and things he needs. Memory, for him, is a filter that keeps only what truly matters.
Then comes the moment — full of life, or completely empty of it — when something must be expressed. He grabs a camera, a notebook, anything. He starts doing without thinking. No thoughts at all. Tapping into flow and enjoying the ride.
Afterwards, in a quiet moment: a cup of coffee, a cigarette, and looking back at what emerged.
When I feel full of life, or completely empty of it, I need to express myself. I start doing without thinking — no thoughts at all.
In 2003 I was diagnosed with cancer, age 15. I was forced to wear a mask everywhere. I had to see the looks on people's faces on the street. Similar, but more strict than the pandemic.
The Pandemic Helped
Me Find Myself Quicker
Than I Would Have
When the world shut down in 2020, Stylianos became massively optimistic. This restricted life was not a new concept for him. At age fifteen, he was diagnosed with cancer. He wore a mask before the world knew what that meant.
That experience changed him profoundly. Seeing how restriction shaped his own life positively, he believed a similar shock might do the same for billions. He was, as he admits, naive and almost wrong.
The pandemic brought contradictions: digital loneliness and exponential richness, nature's brief exhale and more plastic than ever. But Stylianos holds his positive attitude. For every action, there is a reaction. He believes we are close to a tipping point — and he is watching, camera ready.
A Thousand Friends
& Strangers
Feed yourself.
Then let go.
Wellbeing for Stylianos is not a practice — it is a form of attention. To observe himself enough to truly know what his body and mind need to be at peace.
Then it is connection — with nature and with others. He needs people. He trusts strangers. He believes that in our deepest selves, we are all good.
This perspective of acceptance, trust and love — of himself and of the other — keeps him happy, content, and well.
Loneliness will kill us, he says. Trust me.
Loneliness will kill us.
Connection will save us.
I trust and believe in my fellow humans — strangers or not. I believe that in our deepest, we are all good. This perspective of acceptance, trust and love of myself and the other keeps me happy and content.
I NEED others. We all do.
- www.stylianospapardelas.com
- instagram.com/stylianospapardelas
Greece 15 years / 40 countries
Wanderer Book: Duality
Author
