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NICOLAS I. PANTZOPOULOS (Greece / act: Athens; Iraklio; Larissa; Smyrna; and Syros Island) |
Nicolas Pantzopoulos appeared for the first time in Smyrna around 1875. It is possible he was related to E. I. Pantzopoulos, who run a photographic studio in Constantinople at that time. He went down history as the evermoving photographer, because he run studios in many cities of the Greek world, such as Athens; Iraklio; Larissa; Smyrna; and Syros Island. Photography Historian Alkis Xanthakis notes that Nicolas Pantzopoulos is perhaps the most typical example of a mobile Greek photographer during the ninenteenth century. The moving of photographers from city to city - excepting pedlars - was the habit at the time. The increasing prosperity of various cities was the motive that put photographers on the move, in search of a greater and higher-quality clientele. In this respect, they are reminiscent of the gold-hunters of the American West, who were on the go in the hope of finding gold that would make them rich [Alkis Xanthakis 2001, p. 40].In his early photographs, Pantzopoulos mentions running a photographic annexe in Larissa. In 1881 he worked for a short period in Sparta, and in the same year till six years later he worked on Syros Island. Between 1887 and 1888, parallel to his work in Syros, he appears to have run another studio in Iraklion of the Island of Crete, along with some partner as "N. Pantzopoulos & Co." He moved to Athens in 1888 but retained some of his other studios as annexes. In Athens he appears to have worked till 1921.
In closing, Pantzopoulos seems to have been keen on taking over well-known photographic studios of his peers, such as Ioannis Vlachakis and George Damianos in Syros between 1881 and 1887; and Petros Moraïtes in Athens between 1896 and 1921.
[Megakles 08/2006]
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
XANTHAKIS, ALKIS X. 19th Century Greece through the Lens of Petros Moraïtes 2001 Potamos, Athens
