Strange Switch. Spent. The Night, Sleep.

This book presents previously unpublished work by George Tourkovasilis (1944–2021), a photographer and writer who lived between Paris, London, and Athens. Spanning the 1960s to the 2000s, his images move between diaristic depictions of radically intimate moments and sociological chronicles, while his incisive writing on art, politics, and desire brings its own syncopated reflections. Following his death in 2021, Akwa Ibom, Radio Athènes, and Melas Martinos assumed stewardship of his archive—prints, negatives, manuscripts, correspondence, and digital files—and organized three exhibitions: Spent at Akwa Ibom, The Night, Sleep at Radio Athènes, and Strange Switch at Melas Martinos, which are documented here. Drawing on material unearthed from the archive over the past year, including previously unseen digital and phone photography, this book offers a new perspective on a practice that largely eluded the public eye yet remained prolific and generous in private. [publishers’ note]