Dimitra Sionta: INSIDE THE MUSEUM

The place where the photos were taken is at the Acropolis Museum in Athens

From my very first visit to the Acropolis Museum, I was impressed with the lighting of the building.

Light is the dominant component in the architectural design of the Acropolis Museum. The abundant light that falls on the elevated space where the museum was built creates a window into ancient Greece.

My frequent visits to the museum to collect photographic material felt like I had been turned into a permanent resident of the museum. An integral part of this. I spent hours in the museum trying to capture with my lens the relationship between the visitor and the museum and also the relationship between the visitor and its exhibits.

The exhibits, with their careful and refined placement in the exhibition spaces of the museum, turn into unique works of art that deserve the attention of their visitors. What made me stop and wait for a long time before I clicked the shutter of my camera was the way each visitor interacted with the exhibits.

Placing them in front of the exhibit-statue automatically turned their relationship into a personal one. I felt that they ignored the presence of the rest of the guests as well as mine, that for a long time I was photographing them in order to get the most interesting pose.

There was a dialogue of past and present values ​​and experiences and nothing seemed to distract them. They were present as long as needed and left only when they felt they had gathered all the information.