Figure 1.--Portrait of a boy taked by Giorgos Boukas in 1920-30s. The simplicity of the image implies the childhood innocence. Note the button play suit. The shirt seems to have some kind of bib front with many extra buttons. He also wears sandals and a sunhat with a cross.

Giorgos Boukas portraits are considered among the best ever taken in Greece. Nelly's considers him as the most important pre-War Greek photographer. Boukas studied photography abroad and came to work in Athens since the 1920s. He did mainly portraits of a classical style. His way of work was, however, very progressive. It is while worth to quote Pavlos Nirvanas (a Greek writer who also wrote essays on the aesthetics of photography). "The little boy is fully dressed in velvet and silk clothes and has an unatural expression for his young age. Boukas approaches the boy and in front of the amazed parents takes off the shoes and silk clothes. He leaves the boy wearing only a white shirt. The parents expect to set their child for a picture but instead he gives the boy a toy-dog and lets him play on the carpet. Then he photographs the boy in a natural expression." [Source: Alkis Xanthakis, I istoria tis Ellinikis fotografias, 1839-1960 (Athens: 1981).

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Created: May 28, 2002
Last updated: May 28, 2002