Alexis Vasilikos is an Athens-based Greek photographer and the co-editor of phasesmag.com. His work explores the presence of the sublime in everyday life and is an intimate contemplation on the nature of emptiness. His images have a contemplative quality, they show us the serendipities of life and the essence of signs. By viewing his work our life seems suddenly to be more magical.
We choose to feature a part of his series called “Yoga” and for you to get to know him better, we asked Vasilikos a few questions:
 
Why is this series called Yoga and the focus is on 2 ?
Because this is where the journey of seeking begins, there is a sense of two in us , a separation, an idea that something is missing , so we are searching for union and “yoga” means union.
All of life can be seen as this journey of yoga and strangely the end of yoga is  the realization that there have never been two from the very beginning there has always been only the One, but because concepts exist in relation to their opposites in order to understand and experience yoga.
We need to examine what is duality ? And where is duality ? Is it in the essence of things or it’s only superficial ? Does it even exist when we stop paying attention to thoughts ?
This kind of questioning has inspired this series .
 
Your favorite qualities in a man ?
Peace, stillness, bliss, but these are not really qualities of man these are the qualities of pure consciousness.

Your idea of happiness ?
Happiness is our true nature but the mind makes happiness look as if it is  the result of something, “if i do this then i’ll be happy”.
This very idea is the cause of misery as Papaji said “You need nothing to be happy but you need something to be sad” .
 
If not yourself, who would you be?
If by “self” you mean my form then i would probably  be another form but is myself the form ? We have to find out , this is the great opportunity :are we who we think we are ?
 
Your favorite poets ?
Rumi, Basho, Kabir.
 
What is your present state of mind ?
If i think about it , it appears to be something if i don’t think about it , what is it ?
 
Your favorite motto ?
Forget about the motto !
 
 
www.alexisvasilikos.net
 
 
www.phasesmag.com