Andrew Prokos

Early life

Prokos was born to Greek parents who migrated to the United States after World War II, settling in Chicago. At an early age Prokos's family moved to Florida, where he grew up and attended the University of Florida, where he graduated with a degree in Political Science. He first started taking photographs after moving to New York City at the age of 20.

Work

During the mid 1990s Prokos spent two years living in Italy and Greece and traveling through Europe and Turkey. Prokos returned to New York City in 1996, and began working in interactive advertising. Prokos turned to photography full-time in 2002, and received commissions from a variety of clients, including architects, property developers, interior designers, ad agencies, and corporate clients. His photography has been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, and websites, including: ArchDaily, Casa Vogue, Communication Arts, DesignBoom Magazine, Dezeen Magazine, Manhattan Magazine, Metropolis, New York City Monthly, PDN Edu, and others. His photography has also been used in advertising campaigns for numerous companies such as Lloyds Bank, Morgan Stanley, E&J Gallo, Abbott Labs, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and Evraz. Prokos is a member of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers.

In 2012 and 2013 Prokos traveled to Brazil and produced several award-winning series of photographs, including Niemeyer's Brasilia. Niemeyer's Brasilia captured the surreal Modernist architecture of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in Brasilia utilizing stark compositions and long exposure times. The series was published in a full page article in Correio Braziliense, the main newspaper of the capital city of Brasilia in November, 2013. The photographs from Niemeyer's Brasilia received worldwide acclaim and went on to be published in twelve countries in seven languages, including: United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Greece, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Israel, New Zealand, Japan, China, and Malaysia. In July 2014 Prokos was one of 23 prominent Greek-Americans profiled in a documentary video series entitled Greeks Gone West, produced by the Embassy of the United States, Athens and Kathimerini newspaper. The video was shot on location at Prokos's exhibition at Banco do Brasil in New York.

Awards

Prokos has won numerous awards for his photography, most recently for his fine art series "Night & Day" which utilizes multiple exposures captured over time to document the transition from day to night in various locations around the world. The series was selected for American Photography 31 and was awarded two first-place finishes at the 2015 Prix de la Photographie People's Choice Awards.

"Night & Day" was previously awarded a silver medal at the 2014 Neutral Density Photography Awards., and was awarded two Honorable Mentions at the 2014 International Photography Awards (Lucies).

Prokos's series of fine-art architectural photographs based on the works of architect Frank Gehry, entitled Gehry's Children, was awarded a silver medal at the 2014 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3) for his and Honorable Mention at the 2014 International Photography Awards (Lucies).

Prokos's series of photographs of the Brazilian capital at night, entitled Niemeyer's Brasilia, was selected in 2014 by a panel of judges for the Latin American Fotografia 3 collection, and in 2013 was awarded a silver medal at the International Photography Awards (Lucie Awards). Prokos has been awarded with numerous medals in recent years at the Epson International Pano Awards for his panoramic photography of cityscapes and landscapes and has also won numerous Honorable Mentions for his photography from the International Photography Awards, the Prix de la Photographie, Paris, the International Color Awards, and the London International Creative Competition.

Collections

Prokos's photographs have been included in numerous corporate and private fine art collections throughout the USA and Europe, including: Anheuser-Busch, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capital One Bank, Cisco Systems, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Hyatt Hotels, Kimpton Hotels, Moody's Corporation, and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Exhibitions

in 2015-2016 Prokos's fine art architectural photographs relating to the work of architect Frank Gehry were exhibited in "Architect Frank Gehry - I Have an Idea" at 21 21 Design Sight museum in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2014, his photographs of Brazil were displayed in a solo exhibition at Banco do Brasil in New York entitled Brazil: Night & Day - Photographs by Andrew Prokos. The exhibition was held in conjunction with the Year of Brazil at Queens College, City University of New York. It was the first time that Banco do Brasil had exhibited works by a non-Brazilian artist in New York. Brazil: Night & Day - Photographs by Andrew Prokos was also exhibited at the Consulate General of Brazil in New York from May 5 - August 10, 2014 to coincide with the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In both 2012 and 2013 Prokos's photographs were selected by a jury panel to be exhibited in the ASMP gallery at the American Institute of Architects national convention. Prokos's night photographs of Coney Island, Brooklyn were exhibited in 2006 at the Museum of the City of New York in an exhibition entitled Transformed by Light - The New York Night.