March 18, 2015

Meet Eleni Nikoletsos, Photographer Extraordinaire & KOOSHOO Kindred Spirit

We get a lot of love from customers and friends alike for our photography. Lots of which we do ourselves, in-house, but some of which we entrust to others.

Key in finding who to work with is finding someone that gets what KOOSHOO is truly about, and then is able to capture that essence in a still image.

We've been blessed to work with a few photographers of that ilk, namely Josie and Ian from Pure Souls Media, Emily and Zach from Stuck on a Rock and the woman I'm here to write about today: Eleni Nikoletsos.

Since you've been to our site you know Eleni's work. We've worked together with her on multiple shoots, including the series of photos taken throughout Greece (including the banner at the top of this page) that permeate our pages.

Her work captures the lightness, friendliness, playfulness and trust that KOOSHOO is all about. It exudes 'feeling good', which as a reminder, is what kooshoo means. It does this because Eleni, in her caring and intelligent nature, in the way she teaches and exudes yoga, in the way she smiles and shows kindness to all she meets, epitomizes the same thing.

We invited Eleni to be a KOOSHOO Kindred Spirit for all of those reasons, and many others. Our hope is that you'll continue to see our collaborations with her for years to come.

Below is a short Q&A we did with Eleni to help everyone get to know her better.

Q. How did you come to be a photographer?

A. I was encouraged as an artist from quite a young age. Both my parents were really great about allowing my brother and I to be whoever we needed to be. I was always my happiest self when I was doing something artistic, and they were always there to support that. I also attended an elementary school that had an arts based curriculum, so from junior kindergarten to grade eight I was pretty seriously immersed in the arts. It was normal for us to have music, dance & drama, and visual arts all in one day (along with the usual math and social science). It was the best place for me to be.

Since art was so much a part of my life growing up, by the time grade twelve rolled around and university applications were due, I knew the right path for me was one in the arts. It would have felt wrong to go in any other direction. So, I chose to move to the West coast and attend Emily Carr University of Art & Design. It was at Emily Carr when photography and I started going steady (things got really serious, really quickly). I haven’t looked back.

Q. Who/(What) inspires you?

A. What doesn’t inspire me? The ocean inspires me, my brother inspires me, colours inspire me, elephants inspire me, hearing a group of people OM together – that inspires me.

Q. What makes you click (feel alive)?

A. Dancing makes me feel alive. When I close my eyes, get out of my mind and have a free dance, my gosh, that is when I feel alive. That’s when I always remember how magical this life is.

Q. What's your dream shoot?

A. I love the Queen. I think she is the greatest. So, hands down, photographing QEII in the ol’ palace would definitely be my dream shoot. She rules (..literally).

Q. What do you aspire towards as a photographer?

A. ^can we do a fave quote instead?

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray” -Rumi

**Q. As you know, KOOSHOO means feeling good. What makes you feel kooshoo?**

A. Yoga makes me feel kooshoo. It is the practice that not only keeps me feeling good, but it keeps me connected on so many levels. Yoga gets me into my breath, moves me out of my head and into my heart, and brings me closer to who I really am.

Q. Your favorite KOOSHOO product?

A. My favourite KOOSHOO product is the Journey Shawl, hands down. It goes with everything, and I can rock it out (in some way or another) in all four seasons.