Andreas Sellinidis: The Story Behind the Photographer
Photography wasn't the career I imagined for myself as a child.
As the second of four children, I dreamed of becoming an actor. I eventually went to jewelry school, and there, almost unexpectedly, photography entered my life.
One day, my classmate Maria brought her camera to class. Something about it immediately captured my attention. Not long after, I bought my first camera, a Zenith 122.
I couldn't have known then where it would take me, from fashion and small magazine assignments to building a career as a wedding photographer in Greece, starting again in New York, and eventually photographing celebrations around the world.
Looking back, the path was anything but direct. I think that is part of what shaped the photographer I am today.
Finding Photography Through Fashion
Fashion was one of my earliest ways of learning how to see.
I studied fashion editorials through magazines, paying attention to much more than the clothes. I was fascinated by how photographers used light, movement, composition, styling, and location to create a whole world in a single image.
Breaking into photography, however, wasn't easy.
I wanted to assist established photographers and learn firsthand, but those opportunities were hard to find. So I found another way into the industry: I began modeling for photographers.
Being on the other side of the camera gave me an education I hadn't expected. I met people, watched photographers work, learned how direction felt from the subject's perspective, and gradually built relationships within the industry.
Eventually, I began creating portfolios for new-face models and photographing assignments for smaller magazine publications. With each experience, photography became less of a curiosity and more like something I could imagine building my life around.
Fashion remained part of that foundation. I still study editorials today, not because I want weddings to look like fashion shoots, but because fashion keeps challenging how I think about imagery.
Part of my fashion portfolioThe Wedding That Changed Everything
My introduction to wedding photography was personal.
I photographed my sister's wedding.
I went in not knowing weddings would eventually become the center of my career. What fascinated me was how different the experience felt from the fashion work I had been exploring.
Nothing waited for the camera.
Emotions unfolded without direction. Relationships and moments revealed themselves naturally, then disappeared within seconds.
At the same time, I realized I could bring some of what fashion had taught me into this completely unscripted environment. I could be intentional about light and composition when a photograph called for it, then step back when the moment needed nothing from me.
That tension between creating and observing was what made me fall in love with wedding photography.
Building a Career in Greece
I began photographing weddings professionally and gradually built my career in Greece.
By 2007, I had established myself within Greece's wedding industry.
Greece became more than the place where I built my early career. It became part of my visual education. Mediterranean light, architecture, coastline, history, and the relationship between landscape and place shaped how I understood space and composition.
Those influences have stayed with me, even when I'm working thousands of miles away.
As Greece faced a profound economic crisis, I eventually decided to leave the career I had built and move to New York City in 2016.
Part of my wedding portfolio 2007-2014Starting Again in New York
Moving to New York meant starting over in almost every sense.
I arrived with years of experience as a photographer, but I didn't speak English. I had few connections and was entering an entirely different wedding industry while learning how to communicate within it.
I had to reconsider my portfolio, understand a new market, build relationships from the beginning, and decide what kind of photographer I wanted to become in this next chapter.
Instead of trying to recreate what I had already built, I focused on evolving my work.
I continued studying photography, fashion, art, and architecture while developing a portfolio that reflected both where I had come from and where I wanted the work to go.
The process took time.
By 2019, I was working with planners and other creative professionals while building a new portfolio in New York. After leaving an established career in Greece and starting again from zero, seeing that body of work take shape felt like an important turning point.
In 2022, I launched andreassellinidis.com, bringing my work together under my own name.
It felt like the point where everything that had come before finally belonged to the same story: Greece, fashion, my first camera, my sister's wedding, New York, and years spent developing a perspective that felt entirely my own.
Finding My Own Photographic Voice
Over time, I learned that not everything meaningful should be created for the camera.
Some of the photographs I value most begin with observation.
A parent's expression during the ceremony. Friends reconnecting across a dinner table. A quiet exchange before entering the reception. The few minutes a couple finds alone in the middle of a celebration.
Sometimes I step in and offer direction, especially when creating portraits or working intentionally with a setting. At other times, my role is to recognize what is happening and know not to interfere.
“I want both perspectives to exist within the same gallery: photographs shaped with intention and moments that could never be recreated.”
Years later, seemingly small moments often take on the greatest meaning.
Trust, Discretion, and Experience
Being a wedding photographer means being invited into incredibly personal spaces.
I am present while people prepare, during emotional family moments and private conversations, throughout cultural and religious traditions, and at celebrations that may bring together hundreds of guests from around the world.
That proximity requires trust.
For me, professionalism isn't about making my presence known. Often, it is the opposite.
It means understanding the rhythm of a celebration, working seamlessly alongside the people behind it, and never making the photography feel like an interruption. That includes collaborating with planners, designers, production teams, venues, and families while respecting what they have spent months, sometimes years, creating.
That becomes especially important during large-scale and multi-day celebrations, where different events, locations, traditions, and production elements need to become one cohesive photographic story.
The same discretion extends to high-profile celebrations and couples whose privacy matters most. Not every meaningful photograph needs to be public, and not every story I am trusted to document belongs in my portfolio.
Trust continues after the cameras are put away.
Recognition Without Losing Sight of the Work
Over the years, my photographs have appeared in publications including Vogue, People, The New York Times, The Lane and more.
Seeing a wedding published matters because it lets the creative work and story behind a celebration reach a wider audience. Some weddings have appeared across different editions and countries, while others have led to interviews and conversations about photography itself.
Those interviews and conversations have offered something different: a chance to reflect on what I've learned and how my perspective has evolved.
“The photograph still has to matter when the publication, award, or social post is no longer there.”
Where the Work Takes Me Today
Today, my work takes me between New York, Miami, Greece, Europe, Mexico, and destinations worldwide.
Working internationally has taught me to notice how a place changes a story.
Returning to Greece reconnects me with a quality of light and landscape that has influenced me since the beginning. Paris draws my attention toward architecture and fashion. Mexico creates a different relationship with color, nature, and movement. New York continues to challenge me with its energy, diversity, and constant evolution.
Working across these places has made me more attentive to how light, architecture, landscape, and atmosphere can change the way a celebration is photographed.
The Story Continues
Sometimes I think about that first Zenith 122 and everything that followed.
Jewelry school unexpectedly introduced me to photography. Modeling gave me a way into an industry I was trying to understand. My sister's wedding introduced me to the kind of photography that would eventually define my career. Greece taught me how to build one, and New York taught me how to build it again.
None of it followed the path I imagined when I first picked up a camera. Perhaps that is what still keeps the work interesting to me: after all these years, there is always something new to discover.
There is always another story, another place, and another way of seeing.
Further Inspiration
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
Discover celebrations featured in internationally recognized publications, including Vogue, People, and The New York Times.
VIEW PRESSWEDDING PORTFOLIO
Discover real celebrations photographed by Andreas Sellindis across iconic cities, coastlines, and private estates around the world.
EXPLORE PORTFOLIOTESTIMONIALS
Read kind words from couples who trusted Andreas to document one of the most meaningful days of their lives.
READ REVIEWSExplore DESTINATIONs
