Malostranská, Composite photography © Chloe Geitmann Akrithaki, Courtesy the artist
I have lived in Prague for 26 years and since my first visit, I have been photographing life in the city. The Lockdown period was a unique opportunity to walk and photograph the city as it really is. For the first time it was possible to comfortably walk in the empty historic center, cross the Charles Bridge with children, strollers, bicycles or while walking the dog. My dog and I walked in the parks and empty streets of the city, on the traces of Kafka and Kundera. Always finding details and angles from places that are usually hidden by cars or groups of people. In the evenings with a full moon I followed the path of the moon, looking for the ideal place for photography around the Petrin Hill and the Prague Castle.
At home, I was photographing the light coming in from my window. First the cold winter light that pierces through the heavy curtains, then the rain, the bare branches of the huge Linden tree. The sunsets over the rooftops. Until the last lazy rays of the sun came shining on the long summer nights. As I have always liked to record the passage of time the period of the confinment was a good opportunity for such an observation. I looked at my old photographs, the ones I took on my first visit to Prague as a student, in 1993, when I still knew nothing about this city and and I took pictures at the same places. So much but yet so little has changed over the last years. The combination of these “before and after” photographs resulted in a series of collages where time and space become inextricably intertwined and are part of my photographic series “Lockdown Diary”.
Chloe Geitmann Akrithaki
Chloe Geitmann Akrithaki is a Greek visual artist based in Prague. Born in 1969 in Berlin into an artistic family, she is the daughter of Alexis Akrithakis. Chloe spent her childhood between Berlin and Athens. Upon graduation she moved back to Berlin where she studied graphic design, photography and media communication. In her current artistic work, photography encompasses different techniques such as double exposure, digital combination of original drawings, photographs and collage. Time and space play a central role in her work, everyday moments, seemingly insignificant but also the passing of time as we experience it through photographs. The combinations she creates juxtapose different aspects of the urban environment and the impact of time.
Chloe has been showcasing her work throughout various exhibitions in Europe. In 2014 her solo show “double exposure”, a reflection on the current Greek crisis, was exhibited in Gallery 7 in Athens. The exhibition continued on to Prague where it was on display under the patronage of the Greek Ambassador in the Czech Republic.
Prague, April 2015-April 2020, Composite photography © Chloe Geitmann Akrithaki, Courtesy the artist
Since 2016 Chloe is also managing The Alexis Akrithakis Estate and has curated exhibitions in Greece and abroad.
Orloj, Composite photography © Chloe Geitmann Akrithaki, Courtesy the artist