Victor Politis is
the founder and CEO of PRI, an international project development and
financial advisory company with a focus on emerging markets. He is the
winner of an Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award,
New York University’s Teaching Excellence Award and he has developed
prototypical projects in many sectors in over a dozen countries.
Victor’s projects include the $60 million Landmark Herald Centre in
Manhattan; a property development firm central to the gentrification of
parts of Harlem and multi-million dollar projects in sectors ranging from
hazelnut processing in Turkey to telecommunications in Russia.
Victor’s 30 year career has taken him to over 40 countries. He
travels frequently, sometimes to three or four countries in a week.
What compels Victor in his career is also what inspires his love of
photography. As an entrepreneur he readily grasps opportunities,
identifies the best angle to approach varied situations and pioneers new
territory constantly. This impulsive desire to explore new frontiers
emerges from behind the lens via portraits and candid human interactions.
Victor packs his SLR and telephoto lenses alongside his briefcase. From
airport to meeting he rarely sits quietly in the car, preferring to lean
out of the window snapping hundreds of ‘drive-by’ photos
instead.
Most developing cities transform so rapidly. Sterile pavements quickly
replace dusty roads in city centres previously bursting with character and
contrast. That fisherman snapped in 2002 may just be working in Starbucks
by now. Documenting everyday life from country to country is more
important now than ever before.
But before you can ‘homogenous’ share a moment with the people
and places Victor captures on film. Ways of life develop fast. The
differences are fascinating. But the similarities are even more so. What
ties us together isn’t just that we all drink Coca Cola or know of
Prince William. From Kiev to Caracas, we hug, hope - and judging by the
bizarre photo of an open-air, nail salon in Lagos– like a good
manicure once in a while.
‘People often ask me,’ says Victor, ‘to show them the
one picture that best describes my photography. I show them the picture of
a homeless girl in the streets of a Lagos who broke into a huge smile when
she saw me snapping her picture from the window of my car. There are signs
of pain in her smile, but lots of hope as well. This site is about sharing
the world that I come in contact with when I travel. I hope it encourages
young people to travel to faraway places.’