The street photographer obsessed with Melbourne’s CBD and citizens

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

SBS Greek

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Greek street photographer Yiannis Yiasaris is a familiar face to many in Melbourne’s CBD, who may see him walking around capturing human moments in the city.

For Yiasaris, photography is a sedative in digital form.

“It's my Xanax,” he tells SBS Greek. “It calms me down, it's like yoga. When I'm on the streets, I forget everything and just try to take a good photo.”

He loves shooting urban landscapes. Anything beyond the city limits isn’t of interest to the photographer, who seeks more direct contact with the people, their faces and bodies rather a landscape or a portrayal of nature.

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

Yiasaris, who was named the 2016 Black and White Photographer of the Year by Australian Photography magazine, says he doesn’t have a particular ‘photo-philosophy’.

“All I want is to combine the human element with the urban environment,” he says “I'm going out there looking for something that will intrigue me. If I see something that aesthetically ties to me, I take the shot.”

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

And this, he says, is the main difference between street photography and other forms of photography.

“The difference between a street photographer and one who's immersed in landscapes is that the individual moment counts more to us [street photographers]. If you do not get what you want in that moment, you miss the opportunity.”

“Time for street photographers is both an ally and an enemy.”

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

Melbourne’s CBD also fascinates Yiasaris.

“There is something about its well-preserved heritage buildings and newly built skyscrapers.”

Yiasaris moved to Melbourne in 2001 from his beloved city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Asked about his migration journey, he says all his experiences have been captured in photographs.

“Anything that happens in someone's life will be seen in a photo at some point.”

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

Yiasaris’ first contact with photography was in his school years, when he took an analogue photograph for a school project, but it was decades after that moment that he started taking photos regularly.

“I had no idea about photography or the technical details of a camera,” he says. “I took up some photography lessons, learned some basic stuff and went out on the road.”

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

Yiasaris says that while anyone can buy a camera and call themselves a photographer, it means little without good photos.

“In street photography, we aim to take a photo, show it to the people and impress them.”

Yiannis Yiasaris Source: Supplied: Yiannis Yiasaris

Yiasaris has published two books of his photography. The first, Melbourne Exposed (2014), is a collection of black and white Melbourne street photography, while the second, Familiar Strangers (2017), explores Melbourne’s urban landscape in colour.