Myra.M Photography: Assignment 2: Biography of Nicholas Samaras

Myra.M Photography: Assignment 2: Biography of Nicholas Samaras: Nicholas Samaras, Underwater Photographer. Nicholas Samaras was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1976. He grew up on a farm but always lov...

Assignment 2: Biography of Nicholas Samaras

Nicholas Samaras, Underwater Photographer.


Nicholas Samaras was born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1976. He grew up on a farm but always loved the ocean. He studied photography at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London.  In his early twenties he started working as a video editor for major TV stations in Greece. This gave him experience for his later occasional appearances as an actor and director of photography.  
   

He had a passion for underwater photography and loved the sea and its creatures. In 2006 he participated in his first international underwater photography competition, the DAN EUROPE PHOTO CONTEST, and met with success. Since then he has taken thousands of pictures around 
the globe and won many international awards. Many of his photos have been published in articles and featured on the cover pages of magazines such as National Geographic, and Underwater Photography web Magazine.

Nicholas Samaras has experimented with several categories of underwater photography, like abstract pictures, silhouettes, black and white, underwater athletes and models, and more.

"Underwater photography was a natural continuation of me interacting with the sea through scuba diving. At some point in time I felt the need to bring with me to the surface the beauty of the sea, because words and memories were not enough."  ~Nicholas Samaras -Divers Daily Digest

“Every time I say, “Okay, that’s the weirdest thing I have ever seen and photographed,” something new comes up – usually when I’m shooting something in the macro and super-macro kingdom. The sea is a classroom, and what catches my attention are weird behaviours, strange symbioses, and collaborations for survival.” ~Nicholas Samaras 

“I had completed two very successful trips to the Red Sea and had very good material from my dives in the Greek seas, and I was feeling ready to organise my first underwater photography exhibition – but I was missing the lead photo. At that time I had been visiting a diving centre in Sithonia, Chalkidiki to spend my summer vacation, and during a cave dive my model moved to the entrance of the cave and posed like the “Christ the Redeemer” statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – a pose we’d been discussing some time before. The timing was amazing! She remembered our discussion and felt it was that time to do it! The sun was low, lighting the entrance of the cave from the surface, and the framing from the rocks was spectacular. That photo inspired the name of the exhibition, which was “Soulfly”, and still creates strong emotions every time I see it.” ~Nicholas Samaras