Kostas Kapranis
@kostas_kapranis
Landscape photographer based in Greece
I believe that passion is a powerful sentiment hidden deep inside us until it is awoken. My passion for photography began eight years ago when a camera found its way into my hands. This small kid full of dreams is me, Kostas. I am an architect and freelance outdoor and adventure photographer that grew up in Germany and moved to a small town in Greece. Since I can remember, I can say for sure that I feel most alive when I am outside, discovering, searching for new adventures. I was fascinated by the idea of traveling to all corners of the earth, and it remains my ultimate dream.
"Photography has been a big part of my life as it is often the gateway to express myself without having to speak."
I like to think of it as a canvas to express my emotions and feelings and my ideas. Photography is linked with adventure, never dull or flat; it is always filled with thrill and excitement. I love discovering new places, going into the unknown, and most of all, rising to the challenge to get to the perfect spot and achieve the perfect shot. It is not just about producing a “good” image; it is about so much more. Every picture has a story to tell, a message to pass along. It is a way for me to capture moments, memories, and feelings. It is an integral part of my life, and I couldn’t imagine it without it.
I am a person that enjoys the company of friends and likes to share special moments with them. Over the last few years, I’ve made so many good memories from my adventures with my friends, who push me to develop my creativity, encouraging me to express myself through photography. But the roots go deeper than that. When I was a kid, I remember my mother following me wherever she could with a video camera in her hand. It is just some years after when I was 17 that I realized the emotional power a simple image or video can hold. It was the moment I started taking pictures with my very first own camera, a mirrorless Panasonic Lumix.
"Nowadays, I love being outdoors, creating unique stories with my camera. I just feel alive being outside, hiking mountains, camping, or snowboarding whenever I can."
I really enjoy my travel companions’ company, and they always inspire me to create unique stories to tell. After experimenting with various styles and types, I have anchored down on outdoor and adventure photography. I feel this is what represents me and allows for me to transmit my story. I honestly can’t wait to travel again outside Greece and go on my next big adventure.
"I genuinely believe that people do not have limits, just their fears to overcome."
Though it’s essential to know the difference between pushing your physical boundaries and technical limitations, it’s ok to tire yourself out as long as you are sure you are operating in safe conditions. Through my time of traveling and adventuring, I have realized you can push yourself further than you would ever expect, and the reward of reaching the location you had set as a target is so worth it. You get to capture all these emotions and memories with one single click. This, I think, is the magic of photography.
It would be easy to talk yourself out of an early morning hike or excursion, especially in the cold winter mornings, but once you get the reward at the top, you question why you ever considered not going in the first place. I recently did an early morning hike in Pindos’ mountains that took my breath away. The morning fog and sounds of the forest, together with the chilling wind blowing through every crack you had left open, was a sensation I had missed so much. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you I never would be able to do that, but here I am telling you I did.
On the other hand, the challenge is constant, but through challenges, we evolve, we get better, and we learn. Each step outside our comfort zone is enlarging our comfort zone by one step. I am a very energetic person, and I feel trapped when things are standing still in my life. An escape to that has always been photography. I hope I can keep doing what I like the most. To me, taking photographs and exploring the world is a gift!
"One of the adventures I will never forget was the trip to Morocco."
It was my first time outside Europe. We arrived at Rabat quite late and had to take the bus into town to find our contact person from Airbnb. After arriving at the stop, we had to get off. Our guy was waiting and took us to the house through a night market. This was when I realized everyone was looking at us, and for once, we were the different guys from the rest. This was a precious lesson to get a feeling of how many people feel when they are discriminated against or being looked at the wrong way just because they are different.
We finally arrived at a very dark and narrow alley and found our way into a house that did not have any locked doors or windows, as it is how traditional homes are built in Morocco due to the warm climate. So as you can understand, the first night was quite dramatic. The following day, we woke up, and we realized that we had really misjudged the situation. We went out of our room to the terrace, and a fabulous breakfast with tea was waiting for us. All the people on the streets were extremely friendly and helpful. We very quickly came to the conclusion that we judged too early and that this was a huge mistake. After that revelation, I had one of the most unique and adventurous weeks of my life, traveling through the entire country, making friendships, and aspiring to the Moroccan culture.
Exploring a foreign country feels amazing, but this doesn’t directly triumph exploring my own country, Greece. There is a saying that when the world leaders went to God to get their land, the Greek leader was late and arrived after all the lands were already passed over. Then God looked down onto the poor man and said, “take this small piece of land that I had saved for myself.” That is how I see Greece. The land of God. A paradise on earth.
We are a tiny country, but the diversity Greece offers is vast beyond imagination. From the famous beaches to the mystery mountains, the Greek landscape is hiding so many treasures that a lifetime is not enough to discover them. From snowy mountaintops to the crystal clear beaches, lakes and rivers, valleys and deserts, the landscape is just never the same, offering countless possibilities. There are thousands of islands in the Greek seas, each of them with unique geography and history to show. It is tough to select a unique, incredible place in Greece.
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