The nighttime scenes of Athens and London captured by Effie Paleologou elicit conflicting sensations of belonging and dread
Photographer Effie Paleologou’s new photobook documents the otherworldly environments of two cities at night, London and Athens, both of which Paleologou has come to regard as almost home. Tales of Estrangement is available from Mack. All photographs: Effie Paleologou/Mack
Paleologou seeks for the contrasting feelings of comfort and dread created by the city at night.
Paleologou works at night, when identities are hazy and uncertain.
Her paintings have a familiar feel to them, but they are also reliant on the moods of fragility and uncertainty that emerge in other universes.
Paleologou provides a contemporary mapping of liminal and transient areas.
She finds herself attracted to places where encounters, departures, disappearances, and ends occur often, such as railway stations, hotels, parking lots, seaports, and airports.
Urban geometries projected in shadow and artificial light produce fantastical vistas and eerie emotions.
If this is home, a restless theater is also in action. Here, belonging and alienation are intertwined.
Visual artist Effie Paleologou lives and works in London.
When she worked on her previous project, Microcosms, she took pictures of chewing gum that people had spat on the ground.
Her work has been shown abroad and is included in collections at places including the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Thanks to The Guardian whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.
