The pursuit of one’s passion.
Photographer Vassilis
Vassilis Pitoulis says “the sophisticated world and allure of haute couture” drew him to fashion photography as a young man in Paris in the ’80s. Family obligations saw the promising photographer temporarily turn his back on his dreams, but surviving a life-threatening health scare later encouraged Vassilis to follow his passion once again.
Today, the Greek photographer’s ambition has driven him to capture stunning women in gorgeous locations all around the world.
“My photography simply resembles my life these days: a journey full of surprises, excitement and discovery,” he tells Penthouse.
“There is light but also darkness, play and laughter, and of course, beauty. I want to show it all my own way.”
While his images are always aesthetically beautiful with an erotic edge, they also contain an element of mystery, often leaving the viewer feeling as though they are a voyeur spying on an unfolding story.
“A woman’s body is a great beautiful mystery that I try to unveil little by little, without ever completely achieving such a thing. It is a mystery that remains in spite of nudity, whether or not with an erotic component,” he says.
Vassilis reveals he prefers to shoot his images in black and white because that’s how he views the world.
“I see life in black and white, and I translate that into my photography,” he explains.
“I like black and white. It’s elegant, meaningful, and it’s in black and white that I visualize my scenarios. For me, black and white allows for a more focused concentration of the theme. It’s less distracting for the viewer. I translate that into my photography while focusing on the shadows to create more expression.”
A master of natural light and strategically placed shadows, Vassilis says his approach to lighting is to work with available light, rather than try to create new light.
“I don’t mind to let the light do the job. I actually love it when natural lighting takes control of the whole thing!” he shares.
“All I do then, are very small changes here and there. I move the camera, move myself or maybe add an umbrella for a very specific purpose.”
His approach to photography and life is very much the same as his approach to lighting. He adds, “As with everything else in life, experience leads the way into new and sometimes unexpected directions. However, I don’t give it much thought. If anything, I try to be increasingly open with my mind, in an attempt to be able to see more and better, to perceive the images I want to capture.”
You may see more of Vassillis’ spectacular work on Instagram, albeit with censor-mandated little boxes, even on fine art photography. Interestingly enough, if these were paintings, there would likely be no problem — which if nothing else points out the difficulities inherent in trying to enfore “community standards” in a social media environment. It kinda depends on the community in which you live. Go to lunch with a half-dozen or so porn stars and just listen to the conversations. You’ll understand. … More to the seasonal point, we thought we drop in a little passion of our own in the form of a quick holiday greeting.
Vassilis Inspired with Veronica Perasso
By the way, Veronica Perasso talks some more on her Pet Page, should you be interested. Granted, we do tend to be a fickle bunch, what with changing our passions pretty much every month, but even with all that, some of the Pets do reach sort of a family status within our group. After a few decades in this business it can be difficult not to react from a jaded perspective, but in our view, regardless of the beautiful bodies, Pets will always be more interesting when they talk. … Kind of like everybody, really.
