Orestis Kourakis
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Orestis Kourakis photography

Gold wreath from the Getty Museum, LA - Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki Archaeological site in Gerasha, Jordan - East Gate. The photo is part of the photographer's album entitled: “Macedonian Decapolis of Jordan. A photographic itinerary through the lens of Orestis Kourakis". Four gold olive wrearths and teracotta vesels from the excavations of Thessaloniki Metro @EFAPOTH Detail od Derveni crater - Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki ©AMTH Roman glass vases for perfume oils from the excavations of Thessaloniki Metro ©EFAPOTH Archaeological site in Gerasha, Jordan - Collonade of the Forum.  The photo is part of the photographer's album entitled: “Macedonian Decapolis of Jordan. A photographic itinerary through the lens of Orestis Kourakis". Composition of gold and silver coins from the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki ©AMTH Gold earrings with inset heads of an African man and an African woman, made of semi-precious stones from the excavations of Thessaloniki Metro ©EFAPOTH Temple of Zeus in Gerasha, Jordan. Collonade of the vestibule. The photo is part of the photographer's album entitled: “Macedonian Decapolis of Jordan. A photographic itinerary through the lens of Orestis Kourakis".
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Capturing History in pixels

Every time I photograph an archaeological site or artifact a unique dialogue begins. A meaningful dialogue that unfolds the past and draw as much data as possible from each finding.

Collaborations

Museum of Louvre
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Akropolis Museum
Berkeley
Onassis Foundation
Museum of Cycladic Art
Tampa Museum of Art
Princetown University Museum
Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Benaki Museum
Forth
Museum of Fine Arts
Columbia University
Byzantine Museum
The Hispanic Society of America
Attiko Metro
The Walters Art Museum
Byzantine & Christian Museum
Fulbright

Services

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Robots and Equipment

Robots and Equipment

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From a minuscule gem to the most imposing monument, archaeological objects are dangerously fragile and one risks irreparable damage with every handling. For this reason, archeological documentation needs daring creativity to ensure perfect documentation with maximum safety. To provide such solutions, I design and build specialised robotic systems that redefine the boundaries of photographic documentation.

Testimonials

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Sophie Descamps
Sophie Descamps
Role
Curator of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities
Organization
Louvre Museum, France
Testimonial

Thanks to his expertise in archaeological photography, Orestis was selected to be the unique photographer for the Greek part of our exhibition’s catalogue Au royaume d’ Alexandre le Grand. La Macédoine antique. He is focusing on providing comprehensive and informative data to support the study of the ancient world.

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Christopher Lightfoot
Christopher Lightfoot
Role
Curator Greek and Roman Art
Organization
The Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC (The MET), USA
Testimonial

Orestis has developed new and exciting techniques to create arresting images of both archaeological sites and ancient works of art. He provided the photographs that were used for the cover design of the exhibition catalogue, Ennion: Master of Roman Glass New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Nathan T. Arrington
Nathan T. Arrington
Role
Assistant Professor of Classical Archaeology
Organization
Princeton University, USA
Testimonial

Orestis is able to make even the most mundane and worn archaeological objects shine like the Derveni Krater.

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Angeliki Kottaridi
Angeliki Kotaridi
Role
Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Imathia, Greece
Testimonial

8 years of excellent cooperation at all levels. In addition to the high quality of his photographs, it is worth pointing out Mr. Kourakis' continued willingness to experiment with new methods, in order to meet the high demands of the combination of scientific documentation and appealing presentation.

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Nikolaos Papazarkadas
Nikolaos Papazarkadas
Role
Associate Professor of Classics
Organization
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Testimonial

Orestis’ pioneering methodology on the RTI technique in conjunction with his innovative robotic systems reveal details that could not have been brought to light otherwise. Several Siphnian inscriptions, among which the famous epigram of Croesus from Thebes, would have been a defective text without Orestis.

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Seth D. Pevnick
Seth D. Pevnick
Role
Chief Curator and Richard E. Perry Curator of Greek and Roman Art
Organization
Tampa Museum of Art, USA
Testimonial

Orestis produced thousands of beautiful photographs of selected objects from our collection, which allow users to virtually manipulate the objects, viewing them from all different angles and zooming in to see the finest details. He also delivered a terrific lecture, explaining his photographic innovations at museums in Europe and the US.

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Detail from renowned bronze crater of Derveni, Greece of the 4th century AD. depicting a sleeping drunken maenad. The crater of Derveni is among the most emblematic exhibits of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. This photo was selected for the museum's main banner in 2007. ©AMTH

Gallery

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