Back to Nowhere by Charalampos Kydonakis offers an intimate photographic exploration of Crete, Greece, photographed from 2009 to 2017. Known also as Dirty Harrry, Kydonakis, an architect and street photographer, contrasts this personal perspective of his homeland with his earlier portrayal of New York City in Warn'd in Vain. Rather than adhering to familiar tourist images of idyllic beaches and picturesque sunsets, the project consciously avoids mainstream narratives to present a more complex portrayal of Crete's cultural identity.
Back to Nowhere emerges as a response to Crete's rapid tourism-driven commercialization, which intensified after the 1970s. This backdrop provides a critical framework through which Kydonakis explores an alternative, less romanticized reality of island life, further intensified by the socio-economic pressures resulting from Greece's financial crisis between 2009 and 2017. The imagery subtly references the myth of the Minotaur and the labyrinth, which metaphorically enriches the work, reflecting both personal and collective dimensions of isolation, entrapment, and disorientation.
Artistically, Kydonakis weaves together a nuanced dialogue between the familiar and unfamiliar, intertwining themes of alienation and authenticity. The visual narrative investigates everyday scenes filled with unexpected juxtapositions and unsettling details. His stylistic choice of color photography emphasizes contrasts and parallels within the island's contemporary and ancient identities, further heightening the viewer's interpretive engagement.
Technically, Kydonakis predominantly employs a digital camera with wide-angle lenses, allowing immersive, often confrontational perspectives. The deliberate use of artificial flash, including unconventional double-flash techniques, results in stark, surreal lighting effects that foreground minute, unexpected details. His methodological rigor extends to meticulous editing processes involving repeated revisions and careful refinement, ensuring images are curated into coherent yet provocative visual narratives.
Self-published in 2019 after a successful crowdfunding campaign (paired with its twin, Warn'd in Vain), Back to Nowhere first circulated through the photobook community—drawing reviews in PhotoBook Journal, F-Stop Magazine, and Lenscratch—before moving into exhibition form with a 2023 show at La Belladone Bar & Photography Gallery in Brussels.
