About Me – Konstantinos Vasilakis

A Life-Altering Decision: From Engineering to the Wilderness

If you told me years ago that I'd leave behind a stable career in engineering to chase light through mountains, forests, and remote landscapes, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet, here I am.

I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a photographer. In fact, for the longest time, I was heading in the opposite direction—civil and geotechnical engineering degrees from the University of Brighton and UMIST, a structured career, a predictable future. But something always felt... off.

It wasn’t photography at first. It was the pull toward creativity, toward seeing the world differently. I envied art students during my university years—the way they embraced free thinking, the way they explored without rigid boundaries. Maybe that was the first clue. But I ignored it.

The Turning Point: Leaving It All Behind

Life has a way of forcing decisions upon us. After years in construction, Greece’s financial crisis put everything on hold. Work dried up. Uncertainty set in. And in that space of not knowing what came next, I picked up a camera again. This time, with purpose.

It started with landscapes. First, out of curiosity. Then, out of necessity. Photography became my escape from the noise, from the stress, from the pressure of figuring things out.

By 2012, I made a radical choice—I left behind the city, packed up my belongings (and my cat), and moved to a tiny mountain village in northwestern Greece with just ten residents. No distractions. No safety nets. Just me, my camera, and the endless wild landscapes surrounding me.

Photography That Goes Beyond What the Eye Sees

In my early years, I approached photography as most people do—capture what’s in front of you. But that changed.

Now, my focus isn’t just the landscape—it’s the inner landscape. The way a scene makes me feel. The subtle emotional shifts in light, in atmosphere, in movement. I’m not interested in just taking a “pretty picture.” I want something honest, something stripped of external expectations. Something that feels real.

International Recognition & The Evolution of My Work

This journey has led to international recognition, including:

International Photography Awards (IPA) – 1st Place in 2013

Spider Awards (Black & White Photography) – Honorable Mentions

Loupe Awards – Recognized for Excellence in Landscape Photography

My work has also been exhibited in fine art galleries in Europe and Greece, a step toward sharing my vision with a wider audience.

I’ve recently released limited-edition prints, a new chapter in my creative journey. They represent something significant—a tangible form of my exploration, a way to bring these landscapes into personal spaces.

A Defining Chapter: Learning Through Collaboration

Collaboration has always played a crucial role in shaping my perspective on photography. For several years, I worked alongside Kostas Petrakis and Andy Mumford as part of Light-Explorers, an initiative that took us across some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world—Tuscany, the Dolomites, Norway, Iceland, and beyond.

Each of us approached photography differently, which made the experience invaluable. While we shared a deep love for the landscape, our individual philosophies and artistic visions took us in different directions over time. Eventually, we each followed our own path, but those years reinforced my belief in honest, instinctive photography that captures more than just the scene—it captures the way we experience it.

Many of the connections I made during that time remain to this day, and I continue to build on the insights and lessons I gained from those years of exploration.

Want to Explore Photography in a Different Way?

If you connect with this approach—if photography, for you, is more than technical perfection and Instagram-worthy shots—I invite you to join me.

Subscribe to my newsletter for upcoming workshops, where we put this mentality into practice. Or simply follow along as I continue this journey of seeing, feeling, and capturing landscapes in a way that’s honest and real.

I’d love to hear from you—let’s connect.

Sincerely,

Konstantinos Vasilalis