The particularity of Kostas Balafas lies in the fact that he hurts his place he identifies with his subjects but at the same time he does a vigorous and clear photographic work. The particularity also extends to his speech when he describes the real conditions of shooting and his love for the people he photographs while at the same time he formulates in a fleeting way sharp artistic comments. The particularity of Kostas Balafas lies in the sense of debt with which he carries out his work. A debt towards his world towards the culture he met and sees changing but very important thing also a debt towards photographic art. His work stems from respect and leads to respect.
Perhaps the only reservation one can express about him e-commerce photo editing and his work is that his attachment to the subject prevents him from seeing or selecting important photographs which are sure to be hidden in the photofilled corners of his house. The same attachment to the subject and his respect for it pushed him to publish at his own expense a book of his photographs from the Resistance. Let us hope that soon the time will come for the publication of a comprehensive monograph artists' side pursuits since it functioned automatically and charmingly either as a means of collecting memories or as a personal diary.
However it is not easy to define the limits beyond which the engagement with photography ceases to be opportunistic entertainment and turns into a work or beyond which photography ceases to justify its existence exclusively through what is depicted. Some artists make it easier for us by choosing and publishing their photographs live such as the wellknown American painter Robert Rauschenberg but on the other hand some photographers publish their searches in design such as Henri CartierBresson. A special case is a French photographer of the early th century Jenny de Vasson who considered herself a poet and possibly a painter but not a photographer.
