Terry Tsiolis “Portraits”, the artist’s first major museum presentation, features new work produced between 2013 and 2021. The series marks a shift from the high-production editorial work for which Tsiolis is best known towards a more intimate photographer / subject setting.
The series marks a shift from the high-production editorial work for which Tsiolis is best known towards a more intimate photographer / subject setting. Composed of still photographs and short videos, Terry Tsiolis: Portraits focuses on everyday people of varying age, gender, body type, religion, and race from around the globe. In this series, total inclusivity was a primary concern for Tsiolis, and in order to find his subjects he sent an open invitation across his social media platforms stating: “Hello, I will be in the studio shooting portraits [DATE]. Everyone is welcome. Any age, color, size, gender or religion. Message me if you are interested.”
The result is an expansive body of work that presents the character of each sitter rather than their dress, suit, shoes, or handbag. Tsiolis manipulates the general conventions of photography (which presumes to offer some form of objective truth) and those of fashion photography (which offers idealized notions of beauty) by connecting with his subjects on a personal level, inviting them to present their “true” selves ― sexy, absurd, ironic, humorous, shy.
Tsiolis was born 1969 Montreal, Canada and lives and works in New York, NY. He is known for his work in fashion photography, and has worked extensively with magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. His work has featured musicians and actors like Rihanna, Margot Robbie, and Jane Fonda.
The accompanying publication was conceived collaboratively by the artist and Creative Director Michael Kaye, forward by Samira Nasr and published by NIKI publishing.
