Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andreas K. Georgiou. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andreas, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I think my most meaningful project was a lockdown shoot of my wife. Like the vast majority of people, our “lockdown world” had shrunk to a unitary universe and I was lucky to share mine with my other half, my wife. In moments, during this lockdown, I have loved my little universe with an intensity that was new to me.

Up to that point, I was used to being part of a collective vision, a team of usually superstar designers, stylists, etc. Suddenly, I found myself isolated in an arid landscape of creative barrenness. I forced myself to become fully involved purposefully, and in a sense be the captain of my creativity. I taught myself the basics of makeup on youtube and did her makeup. In absence of a gown, I foraged Queen Anne’s Lace wildflowers and created a top for my muse by gluing it on her back with the only thing available as skin glue: glucose syrup. I also created an ethereal skirt using some spare tule. The result was a delicate photo shoot that reflected the melancholic calmness caused by isolation, and simultaneously, the deep devotion and connection towards the one I share isolation with.

It changed me on so many levels! I fell in love with my wife in a way I never knew was possible. But it also changed my career, because for the first time my work had exceeded the rigid boundaries of “personal” or “editorial” art. The photographs were circulating on the internet “as a symbol of hope”, an expression of getting back control of one’s life. I received messages of the sort of “this photoshoot might have saved me from depression” and some people asked for the images to print for themselves to be reminded about hope and creativity despite limitations.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an international wedding photographer. I serve a limited number of select couples whose celebrations usually span multiple days and take place around the world. These events feature beautiful artistry and place a premium on the guests’ experience, family ties, and local cultural traditions.

I became a photographer relatively late when I was 39. Prior to that, I had dipped my toes in four different career paths and even started two businesses of my own. I have a background in cognitive science, neuroscience, and education. Soon after I started my Ph.D. at Harvard in brain science, I became fascinated with technology and left my studies to create my first startup. Fast forward a few years, I found myself in charge of the digital department of a well-known marketing firm.

I have no regrets about my past experiences, however, they left me feeling unfulfilled and searching for purpose. I was looking for something bigger than myself. I believe that my current work as a photographer allows me to have a greater positive impact on people’s lives than any of my previous careers combined.

My new adventure is nothing short of a soul-searching journey. Firstly, wedding photography has been traditionally viewed as a documentarian craft that simply captures moments without a broader cultural impact outside the event itself. I constantly challenge myself to create work that tries to dispel this myth. I want to demonstrate how a photographer’s greatest gift is the ability to see the world with empathy and share that perspective with the rest of the world and I see my camera as a mirror that can reveal how extraordinary humanity can be. This is my mission but also my moral obligation as an artist.

Secondly, I am still making mental shifts to navigate the world of luxury wedding photography with a sense of responsibility. I believe luxury is more than indulgence or opulence; it’s about excellence, heritage, insight, local roots, craftsmanship, and sustainability. Although I provide services in the luxury tier of the market, I consciously steer clear of highlighting wealth, scarcity, or social status in my photography. Instead, I strive to capture the universal experiences of human connection, self-awareness, kindness, and disruptive creativity. In the end, I feel that my work boils down to a worldview of happiness. I imagine happiness as the deserving dignity of every human to have a share in humanity’s achievement, autonomy, competence, relatedness, and belonging. This shift in perspective is critical, particularly in today’s climate of social unrest and inequality.

Finally, my work extends beyond photography, as I’m deeply committed to education and regularly lead fine art photography workshops around the globe, and I also have a podcast aiming to empower fellow wedding artists to use their craft as a platform for positive change.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about my vision.

A crucial aspect of my work is centered on women. Being both a husband to an incredible woman and a father to a young daughter, I strive to capture images that portray femininity as a gentle force. I aim to depict women not as decorative objects or mannequins for clothes, but as determined heroines in their own right. I want to showcase women who are radiant, confident, and powerful, and I want to use their voices to tell their stories.

I acknowledge that there is much work to be done to challenge the unrealistic and oppressive standards imposed on women by society. Nevertheless, I am committed to playing my part in promoting body positivity, advocating for more inclusive beauty standards, and challenging the norms and expectations placed on women.

Then, as an educator, my mission is to challenge my students to question the traditional role of wedding photographers as mere documentarians and to inspire them to believe in their art as something with the potential to shape society.

After all, beyond the moral responsibility we have as artists, this is critical in terms of marketing. Millennials and the upcoming Generation Z place a high value on purpose and meaning, and photography businesses must demonstrate a sense of purpose, a “reason for existence”. I am convinced that, given a choice, the best clients will always choose to work with the photographer who inspires them with their sense of purpose.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I love this question because it highlights how being a creative business defies conventional economics.

Most of us, creatives, are one-person brands. As creatives, we do personalized work, so the number of clients we can serve is limited. Therefore the only way for us to grow is to make the most of our limited time by attracting fewer, and better clients. This defies mainstream economics. Indeed, better clients challenge us to do better work. They are proud that they hired us. They talk about us and are willing to pay a premium for our services. All this means that an artist’s growth no longer relies on attracting mass audiences through social media hashtags and SEO.

The only predictable way I have found to attract better clients is by creating personal projects! Personal projects allow me to be unrestricted by limiting briefs. They are photoshoots with enormous communicative intent. They combine brand strategy, positioning, verbal identity, and visual language in order to answer the two questions that matter the most: “Why do you get out of bed every morning?” and, more importantly, “Why should anyone care?”

I have created personal projects as grand as a mesmerizing recreation of a Belle Epoque chateau garden party in the South of France, with 26 actors dressed in original 19th-century costumes. Or as small and specific as an aide-mémoire to English poet John Keats, in Rome. Or as controversial as constructing a pop-up wedding studio made entirely of concrete because I wanted to challenge the over-romanticization of wedding imagery.

Personal projects have a “zing” to them, an element of surprise! Indeed, the creative world is filled with this paradoxical relationship between predictability and surprise. The only predictable thing in art is that art is supposed to be surprising! All we need are a few yet great clients who invite us to create art that surprises, delights, moves, and even… changes the world! This strategy sometimes means that we will be under-respected by the vast majority, but at the same time, we stand a chance of being over-applauded by those few, special fans that trust our vision!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://andreaskgeorgiou.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreaskgeorgiou/
• Other: My podcast https://andreaskgeorgiou.com/podcast/