Insights from Pavlos Kozalidis
Workshop and Conversation Notes / 8 Jun, 2026
In Bucharest, had a chance to absorb some of the insights from the photographer Pavlos Kozalidis, who does not want to be called master of photography, but has been doing this for over fourty years around the world.
- Select today if you would like to shoot in color or black and white.
Control your background, it makes major part of composition and the frame.
The composition and image will be better if there is several points of interest. Your eye will wander across the frame back-and-forth to create connections between those points of interest.
Makes space for your subjects in the frame, negative space and let them breathe.
Take timeless photos, plastic bottle can take away a lot of attention, contributing to the loss of overall quality of the frame.
Subconciously, when looking at a photo we are looking for a human shape or form somewhere on the image.
Grimaces of human faces grab all the attention, avoid it. Colourful logotypes, and other small elements take a lot of attention away.
Look for the “mistakes” in the regular daily scenes around you, what can make a composition feel interesting.
One of the biggest instruments to own as a photographer is to be invisible, have the courage to photograph people up close, and have the mood in the photographs.
Mood equals to Story, and Story equals to Feelings.
Photography is stopping time. Relax your shoulders, breathe in, and take a photo.
First or second photo of the scene is usually the most charged one with energy, trust that feeling.
Put a finger in front of you, close one eye, remove one object from the scene, see how it affects the overall attention of the eye and composition balance. Where your eye goes first? What path your eye follows on the image?
Analyze the dead zones in your composition where nothing happens.
Do not overlap objects in the image.
Look at the new photos daily.
Color photography is more complicated. Color is for the heart and black and white for the soul.
Read the scene before approaching people.
Collect your photographs, put them away, collect new photographs. Time puts additional weight to photographs and value.
On journey versus destination: I do not want to arrive, I want to be on the bus and see the images passing by in the window.
Live out your fears in photography.
Andrii