Alexandros Tsoutis | Trip in Pictures | Creative Director

Alexandros Tsoutis | Trip in Pictures

With Baka Pigmy tribe, Southeastern Cameroon

Alexandros Tsoutis works as a creative director in a large advertising company. In addition to his work, he is a lover of photography, he explores the world in the most remote parts of the planet and captures his travels in pictures.

Two of his photographs were recognized by National Geographic, one of the largest educational and scientific non-profit organizations in the world. One of the two photos titled “Burmese Day” was published in National Geographic as photo of the day on February 24, 2015.

Tell us a little about you, Trip in Pictures, travel and your great love for travel photography

Traveling is a vital need for me, but I don’t think it’s just my specialty. We all have the need to travel, some less and others more and for different reasons. From a holiday escape to a cultural experience and from an exploration to a permanent or temporary migration.

Lake Chad, CHAD. Boko Haram’s revolt has devastated Lake Chad region since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria, leaving at least 20,000 people dead, displacing more than two million others, and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Although I also take my trips during the holidays, I would characterize them more as experience trips and less for leisure. As a rule outside of Europe, looking for different cultures and authentic people, as much as possible unaffected by western social norms.

After all, I consider the destination of my travels and the hero of my images… Man. Like most people, I took photos on my travels to preserve the memories. But gradually photography became a means of my expression, a capture of my personal look and the emotions I feel when I am there, a story told through the freezing of the moment. In addition to two personal exhibitions that I have done, I decided to organize my photographic material by destination, creating the website tripinpictures.com where I also record my experiences from recent trips, slowly adding to the previous ones.

How many countries have you visited in total, which countries touched you the most?

Compulsory by law, women dress code in islamic Iran is followed in a variety of styles, more or less conservative. The new generation challenge these rules, asserting the right to unhide

It’s common to be asked questions about how many countries I’ve visited or which place enchanted me the most. Experiences are not necessarily measured by “pins” on the map, nor do they depend on the lines defined by man on this map. And of course I cannot evaluate one destination as more worthy than another.

As I explained, I don’t necessarily look for magic in majestic metropolises, insurmountable monuments, places of historical interest, etc. However, I have a special love for the African continent, its difficulty and simplicity. Yemen, which I visited in 2013, when the civil war had unfortunately started, was also special for me.

Venezuela, which I visited for the 2nd time in 2017, compensated me again with its amazing natural wealth. I’m afraid I’ll start listing many more countries without ending… Pakistan, India, Burma, Ethiopia, Mali, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea…

You took a trip to the Backlands, a country that is not touristic, tell us a few words about your travel experience in this country?

Bangladesh is a small Asian country, almost flat, crossed by large rivers forming the Bengal delta, the largest on the planet. With a population of 180,000,000, it is considered one of the most densely populated in the world, while the low standard of living and natural disasters from annual floods make living conditions difficult. But this little-visited country, with its few typical attractions, is a colorful chaotic mosaic. More pictures and experiences at tripinpictures.com/en/bangladesh

The reasonable questions that one would ask in relation to the choice of this destination, I also asked myself. Why go to Bangladesh on holiday, a country poor, dirty, chaotic, imprinted on our consciousness as a place from which one only wishes to escape? The possible reason is my travel addiction for destinations that have not yet been spoiled by hordes of tourists, to search for unique images, distinct experiences and cultures, to meet people who have a way of life different from our own.

Countries visited by Alexandros Tsoutis

Africa: Egypt, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Mali, Madagascar, Morocco, Botswana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Somaliland, Tanzania and Chad
Central Asia: Uzbekistan
Middle East: United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, Palestine, Turkey and Yemen
South Asia: India (Kashmir & Ladakh) Nepal and Pakistan
Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
North America: Guatemala, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Belize and Honduras
South America: Brazil, Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru and Suriname
Oceania: Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands
Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Malta, Great Britain, Netherlands and Portugal