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Aristotle Roufanis (Athenes 1983 - )

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The overwhelming sense of being surrounded by people yet feeling alone among them is a well documented facet of city life. And even if you are among the 46 percent of the world’s population living in a rural environment, you’ll be familiar with the emblematic image of urban disconnection in which tower blocks loom over bustling streets filled with scurrying figures. But what happens when the day is over and each individual retreats into their home for a moment of calm after the storm? Photographer Aristotle Roufanis is fascinated by this experience of collective solitude. Trained as a civil engineer, he has an affinity for the urban structures that characterise major cities all over the world.



“I think architecture is one of the strongest art forms,” he says, contemplating the symbolism that lies behind stacked office buildings and luxury flats. “It completely surrounds us and can affect our living situation more than any other art form.”



Alone Together, the photographer’s most recent series, includes images taken in Paris, London, Miami and Hongkong “I’m always looking for big cities to go to because I think the message I’m trying to convey is stronger there,” he says. Yet Roufanis prefers keeping the specific indications of each setting as vague as possible, omitting locations from his image titles. “It doesn’t matter which city you are in – that feeling of solitude is always the same.”