ELENA PARASKEVA | The Rich and Colorful World

The Rich and Colorful World
of ELENA PARASKEVA

“My journey into photography, specifically fine art, has been one of self-discovery and very much at odds with whom I initially set out to become.”

Elena Paraskeva is an international Conceptual Photographer and Art Director and, most recently, an official ADOBE instructor. As a Marketing Executive for Nestle Waters USA, she worked on the client side with Ogilvy&Mather to produce advertising campaigns for her premium brands and was featured in the New York Times for her work.
Elena loves to create surrealistic conceptual work bathed in rich color palettes and solid graphic lines.
Her stylized world is full of fashion images and conceptual portraits permeated with a high aesthetic, beauty, and elegance. Always playing along the lines of the unordinary and almost bizarre, her work is impactful, lucid, and memorable.
She has exhibited her work in Barcelona, NYC, London, and Paris, among other cities, and has been published on the pages and covers of a multitude of publications, including the U.K. Times. Her most recent success is the exhibition of her work at the European Parliament in Brussels in March of 2023.

“My work has to represent an idea, a bizarre thought, or a representation of a feeling; it is not a reflection of reality.
I create surreal worlds that are sometimes born from a thought process that can commence by observing everyday objects around me. I love and single out the style of a few photographers who, like me, happen to be very conceptual in their creative process.”

Elena’s artistic style is based on a unique surrealistic conceptual work bathed in rich color palettes and solid graphic lines. Her stylized world is full of fashion images and conceptual portraits permeated with a high-aesthetic beauty and elegance. Always playing along the lines of the unordinary and almost bizarre, her work is impactful, lucid, and memorable.
Among the many exhibitions nationally and internationally, her work has been featured at the Fotonostrum Gallery, Barcelona, Spain, in 2022; at the Aperture Foundation, NYC, in April 2019; at the Menier Gallery, London, UK, in 2018; and at the Photo Oxford 2017, Oxford in the U.K.

Paraskeva’s work has been featured on the cover of countless international publications, including the U.K. Times, Lens Magazine (Exclusive Interview), Photography Masterclass, Fotorgrafare (Italy), Chromatica Magazine, Digital Camera, Digital Photographer, N-Photo, PDN, Digitalis Foto Magazin, among others.

“I HAVE FUN BEHIND THE CAMERA, NO MATTER THE SUBJECT. THAT SAID, THERE IS ABSOLUTE FREEDOM WHEN SHOOTING PERSONAL FINE ART PROJECTS. I CAN STRETCH MY IMAGINATION AS FAR AS IT CAN GO; THERE ARE NO BOUNDARIES, JUST ME AND MY CRAZY IDEAS.”

Getting To Know: Elena Paraskeva

“My workflow process for every project is extensive. It starts with writing it all down, much like a script, the story, the feelings, the mood, and even the movements/poses of the models. Then comes the props/setup/location scouting. Lighting diagrams, talks with stylists/makeup artists, etc. Long days of shooting turn into long nights of editing as I do all the retouching, color grading, etc.”

Lens Magazine: Please share the background of your photography journey. Did you grow up in a creative environment? What led you to the fine art photography field?

Elena Paraskeva: My journey into photography, specifically fine art, has been one of self-discovery and very much at odds with whom I initially set out to become. With a Masters’s in Finance, and a career that spanned from an Analytics Director to a Marketing Executive in the U.S., art was never in the foreground of my professional life, yet a decade later, it has become central to my identity, and without a doubt a life-long obsession.

Lens Magazine: Where your inspiration comes from? Is your artistic style influenced by other photographers or a specific art field?

Elena Paraskeva: I am a conceptual artist, even when undertaking commercial assignments.
My work has to represent an idea, a bizarre thought, or a representation of a feeling; it is not a reflection of reality.
I create surreal worlds that are sometimes born from a thought process that can commence by observing everyday objects around me. I love and single out the style of a few photographers who, like me, happen to be very conceptual in their creative process. It is usually artists that are at the pinnacle of their careers because I aim to keep improving; it is essential to be influenced only by the best.

“I WILL NOT SPEAK ABOUT CYPRUS BECAUSE THE FIELD OF PHOTOGRAPHY NEEDS TO BE DEVELOPED HERE. INTERNATIONALLY THE AREA IS HUGELY COMPETITIVE, AND YOU MUST CONSTANTLY KEEP UP WITH NEW TECHNIQUES.
CLIENTS ARE PUTTING MORE EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS WHICH TEND TO FAVOR MOVING RATHER THAN STATIC IMAGERY. I HAD TO LEARN ANIMATION USING SEVERAL PROGRAMS IN JUST A FEW MONTHS BECAUSE I WANTED TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE. AND NOW WE ALSO HAVE A.I. IMAGERY STARTING TO MAKE ITS WAY INTO FASHION AND PRODUCT EDITORIALS.”

Lens Magazine: Tell us about the workflow process from the step of the idea until the final outcome. Which program do you use for editing? Do you see post-processing as the primary time investment in your work?

Elena Paraskeva: I am hired by Adobe to teach other professionals about my editing process, so yes, editing plays a huge role in my work. I spend a lot of time in Photoshop, but I am also a commercial/advertising art director/photographer, which means I’m working beyond it with programs such as Adobe After Effects, where I build my motion/cinemagraph.
My workflow process for every project is extensive. It starts with writing it all down, much like a script, the story, the feelings, the mood, and even the movements/poses of the models. Then comes the props/setup/location scouting. Lighting diagrams, talks with stylists/makeup artists, etc. Long days of shooting turn into long nights of editing as I do all the retouching, color grading, etc.

Lens Magazine: From your personal journey in the fine art photography field, what will be your advice to the young photographer looking for a way of development?

Elena Paraskeva: With the recent development of A.I., the field has become increasingly saturated and more competitive than ever. It is now so easy to input a few prompts referencing the work of great artists and photographers and get an image that you can actually sell commercially. The artists that will continue to shine through are those who manage to invoke emotion in the viewer. Create images that mean something to you. We are all aware that there is no such thing as parthenogenesis, and inspiration from others is encouraged, but put your own spin, your own thoughts and feelings into an image or series. It is the only way to stand out.

Lens Magazine: What’s the future hold? Any special exhibitions in the upcoming months?

Elena Paraskeva: I am actually quite excited because I just got signed for exclusive representation by a U.K. agency that will hopefully push my career to a new level commercially as a photographer and an art director. On the fine art side, I am in talks with an agency to represent my fine artwork in galleries across France.

See the full article in Lens Magazine Issue #105