When a photographer takes a picture of himself he stands in front of the lens and poses. At the same time, however, he theoretically watches himself as the photographer behind the camera. It is as if he is at two different places simultaneously, a situation analogous to someone standing in front of a mirror. He changes posture, turns his head, raises his hand, and his mental image repeats the movements in complete synchronization, as his reflection would do in a mirror. However, at the time the photograph is taken, the body separates from its reflection. Socrates Mavrommatis, in his photographic sequence Margie (1981) symbolically describes this separation through a series of photographs wherein a woman, standing in front of a mirror, tries to identify with her reflection unsuccessfully. Her reflection is either absent, either present but in the position that she previously held, or in the one she will take. These things, of course, happen to photographed bodies and not in real life, as these photographs imply through their clear and simple descriptions of the scene. Socrates Mavrommatis "Margie" 1981 In self-portraiture, one can see oneself in the photograph as others do. In most cases, the photographer creates an image as he wants others to see it; he builds a narrative and directs himself. In Etre maitre de soi, from the series Simulacres Gilbert Garcin compares himself to a puppet whose strings he himself pulls. In his work Le paon done in a self-mocking vein, Garcin is holding a contraption made of 29 frames, all portraits of himself. Also, by using a minimum of technological media, Gilbert Garcin convincingly places himself in paintings and photographs of other photographers. In certain instances, he shows himself confronting dead-end situations or portrays himself behaving with excessive selfishness and vanity. Gilbert Garcin's photographic and metaphysical journey continues differently in his work Ubiquite he does not photograph himself; he sends a photographic simulacrum of himself to photographers worldwide and asks them to photograph him in a location of their choice. The 30 photographers who responded to his invitation went one step further and incorporated Gilbert Garcin's image in their own -photographic- fantasies. Gilbert Garcin "Simulacres" Le paon A similar metaphysical dimension appears in the question posed by Dimitris Tsoublekas in his work, What Shall I Do When I'll Die?, (1996).The answer does not carry the expected philosophical depth, instead it is simple, brief, and poetic. I will be, I will laugh, I will remember. The photographs accompanying these answers are also simple. In the post-mortem phase in which the photographer imagines himself, he has the same body, and for this reason continues to be human, with the same worries and concerns. The only change is the photographs' colors that lend a dream quality to ordinary, everyday spaces. Dimitris Tsoublekas "What Shall I Do When I'll Die?", 1996 Puzzling, and similarly poetic is Manolis Skoufias' reference to the future of humankind. In his series Be-Sides, (1991) he plays the role of a human being at the "dusk" of his existence, seeking a way out in nature. A little later his body drowns in the dark sea waters. Manolis Skoufias ""Be-Sides", 1991 The shadow of death also permeates Yiorgos Depollas' series of photographs, 13 Strange Deaths, (1999).The dead are presented in the location and the state in which they were found, with a brief text informing the viewer of each respective incident. Drownings, murders, suicides¯all unsolved cases¯are narrated by a well-known reporter. The viewer soon realizes that the photographer, the narrator, and the victims are the same person. Yiorgos Depolla "13 Strange Deaths", 1999 Panos Kokkinia's images, more autobiographical and narrative, describe the environment he lives in as a place of exile. Life, real life, takes the form of the city seen through a window, appears as blue sky captured through an opening in the ceiling, as light passing through a door crack, or as human presence on the television screen. The artist, confined in his space, invents a second presence through self-photographing: one who seems to watch him but also keep him company. Panos Kokkinia "Un etat d' esprit" 94-96 The autobiographical photographs by Marilena Harmidi, in the series A Life 's Story , (1998) also imply the presence of another person. Marilena Harmidi photographed during her sleep, appears behind a window frame, and then appears in a garden or in the countryside, as if someone is always with her. It could have been this way, but her face shows no smile, no expression of communication, no indication of a real companion. The "other" person may be desire, absence, her alter ego, a presence whom she exorcises through her own stare. Marilena Harmidi "A life's story", 1998 Christina Vazou's series Nine Months-Improvisations, (1999) is also auto-biographical. The photographer is being photographed and simultaneously photographs her child since the first weeks of her pregnancy. She sees it grow day by day in her body. She photographs herself and the people surrounding her, watching their curiosity, their reaction, their expectations. She reads books and prepares for the birth, due only three months before this exhibition. Christina Vazou "Nine Months-Improvisations" 1999 In self-portrait photography there is no intervention, no "other" stare, between the photographed person and the viewer. The photographer 's presence on the scene invites the viewer to a face-to-face encounter and asks him or her to participate in the masquerade, the transformation, the fantasy. Achilleas Nassios seeks his physiognomy in two faces with vaguely blended features, floating in fragmented squares. Man and woman interchange and coexist in alternating disguises of the artist. Achilleas Nassios "AnimaÍåìïò" The dark metamorphoses of Athina Chroni connote the uncertainty of the photographed person's identity. Dark surroundings create the impression of an enclosed space that is penetrated by the viewer's stare. The viewer watches the photographer's lonely games as she alternates from a woman to a child. Athina Chroni also uses disguises in some photographs in her more recent work, Stereopsis. (1999). To see the stereoscopic photographs, the audience needs a dioptic equipment placed in front of the double images. The viewer is thus forced to approach and observe the photographed persons in a more "alive" and private setting. Athina Chroni "Selfportraits" Light, shadow, and allusion are prevalent in Marlo Broekmans' The Light-Woman. Through mirror reflections she uses for her setting, and the repeated self-photographs, her body multiplies. Sometimes it vaporizes and becomes transparent, at other times it appears as a trace, a shadow on a wall, or a mark on a piece of paper. In this work, face, body, sexuality, and dream interact with the photographic material, which takes unexpected forms Marlo Broekmans From "The Fall" The photographer dreams, confesses, mocks himself, uses the language of the body, states his thoughts about life, about his own life, and often about photography itself. Babis Papamethodiou is embodied in the photographic material in his series Homo Significans. (1998-99). When the photographic image image becomes fluid during the processing of the film, his own"body" transforms into a deformed creature that struggles to survive this fatal encounter. Babis Papamethodiou "Homo Significans", 1999 Eleni Maligoura tries in vain to capture her own image in the series Gradual Abolition or Continual Escapes, (1992). Her reflection seems to resist its own depiction. Each time she attempts to capture it, the photograph depicts only an outline of her face, devoid of features. Eleni Maligoura "Gradual Abolition or Continual Escapes" 1992 Thomas Florshuetz introduces with his photographs the dynamics of the photographic act. He grimaces, takes a close-up of his face -slightly out of focus, half inside and half outside the frame. He takes himself apart and then resynthesizes a fragmented image of himself. Face and hands are photographed in a homogeneous grimace, actively expressing the artist's existential agony. Thomas Florschuetz "Untitled", 1986-96 The selection of the works included in the collection Watch Me (Watch You) is a small sample, a minimal reference to this fascinating adventure of the "stare" that began 170 years ago with the invention of photography. The few lines that I have devoted to the works constituting this collection do not reflect their expressive and morphological range. In some cases, my interpretation is the result of a fragmented and often one-sided reading that aims to connect these works with one another and to promote them through the claim stated in the collection's title Watch Me (Watch You). The inclusion of these works in a collection, as is true for most collections of photographic images, is likely to create deviations or reveal unexpected lines of expression. But this is also part of the adventure of the "stare." The photographers who trusted me with their works know this well enough, and for that I thank them.