"Dimitri Mellos makes remarkable photographs that capture moments of transcendence, delight, confusion, humor, solitude, despair — sometimes all in the same frame. These densely packed images are teeming with mundane ordinary moments, unlikely juxtapositions, the interplay of shadows, silhouettes, and shafts of slanting urban light. His artful eye seems hyper-naturally tuned-in to saturated colors and morphing shapes; one can feel both his sense of whimsy and compassion as he takes us along his city streets."
- Jim Casper, LensCulture Editor-in-Chief
Dimitri Mellos was born in Athens, Greece, but since 2005 has been living in New York City. He studied philosophy and psychology. As a child, he used to walk around with an old Kodak Instamatic camera (with no film loaded), pretending to be taking pictures. He rediscovered his passion for photography many years later. He is a self-taught photographer who works mainly on long-term, self-initiated projects. His work has been exhibited and collected internationally and has garnered several prestigious awards and accolades, including being a Finalist for the Magnum Expression Award and the Visura Grant, and a Juror’s Pick at the Lensculture Magnum Photography Awards. In 2019, he was one of 16 photographers featured in the anthology volume Masters of Street Photography (UK, Ammonite Press).
John Szarkowski said of Garry Winogrand that “his ambition was not to make good pictures, but through photography to know life”. This statement perfectly describes Dimitri’s photographic aspirations as well.
Selected Honors and Awards
2009: PX3 awards, first place (photojournalism/political) 2009: International Photography Awards, first place (editorial/political) 2009: International Photography Awards, second place (editorial/other) 2010: PDN's photobookNYC 2010: WPGA Pollux Awards, 1st place (editorial and current affairs portfolio) 2011: Palm Springs Photo Festival slideshow contest, Finalist 2011: Santa Fe CENTER Editor's Choice Awards, 2nd place 2011: Blurb's Photography Book Now, 1st runner-up 2011: Fotovisura Grant, Finalist 2012: American Photography 28, selected 2012: Eddie Adams workshop XXV 2012: International Fine Art Photography Awards, Juror Award of Merit 2012: Magnum Expression Award 2011, Finalist 2012: Fotoweek DC Fotobook competition, 1st place (Fine Art, E-Book) 2013: International Fine Art Photography Awards, Juror Award of Merit 2013: Renaissance Photography Prize, Finalist 2014: Renaissance Photography Prize, Finalist 2015: American Photography 31, selected 2015: Palm Springs Photo Festival slideshow contest, Winner 2016: San Francisco Street Photography Festival, Finalist 2016: Lensculture Street Photography Awards, Finalist 2016: Magnum Photography Awards, Juror's Pick 2018: 12th Pollux Awards: Winner, Street Photography series 2018: 12th Pollux Awards: Winner, Documentary & Reportage series 2021: Street Photographers Foundation awards, Series winner
Selected Exhibitions Group shows: 2011: CENTER, Santa Fe, NM 2011: Caption Gallery, New York, NY 2011: The Private Space Gallery, Barcelona, Spain 2012: South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY 2013: Tete Art Space, Berlin, Germany 2013: Miami Street Photo Festival, Miami, FL 2013: Photoplace Gallery, Middlebury, VT 2013: The Box, Athens, Greece 2013: Eastreet, Lublin, Poland 2013: Forward Thinking Museum, Street Photography and Moral Codes exhibition 2013: Renaissance Photography Prize Show, Getty Images Gallery, London, UK 2014: Renaissance Photography Prize Show, Getty Images Gallery, London, UK 2014: Photographic Museum of Humanity, 1st anniversary exhibition 2016: Streetfoto San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 2016: SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA 2018: Zet gallery, Braga, Portugal
Solo shows: 2010: Technochoros Gallery, Ioannina, Greece 2011: The Art Foundation, Athens, Greece 2015: Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece 2017: The Photography Room, Canberra, Australia 2018: iFocus gallery, Athens, Greece
Dimitri Mellos
Born in Athens, Greece, Dimitri Mellos is an award winning street photographer based in New York City.