Profile

The IDOLO lab began its journey in 1982, founded by George Marinos, working in the analog processing of black-and-white film and the printing of photographs. From its very first steps, its approach was built on a commitment to quality, technical precision and aesthetic integrity in the final result.

George Marinos came to photography almost unexpectedly. He was studying at the Faculté de Lettres of the University of Nice in France, and later French Language and Literature in Athens, where he also earned his degree, when, as part of a university project in Folklore Studies, it was suggested that he accompany his research with photographs.

Photography, however, was not an unfamiliar world to him. His father, Dionysios Marinos, was an acclaimed photographer in the field of art photography, with major distinctions and gold medals in competitions in Greece and abroad. Contact with his work and his art had already shaped, perhaps beneath the surface, a familiarity with the photographic image. When he saw the photographs he had made for his project, he decided to take up the processing and printing of photographs.

Beyond the knowledge they gave him, his studies in French literature contributed to a broader humanist and aesthetic education. This cultivation had a decisive influence on the philosophy of the lab, where technical knowledge always went hand in hand with aesthetic sensitivity.

Since 2005, the lab has also offered high-specification digital services, combining long experience in analog photography with the possibilities of modern digital techniques. The move to the new technology was not a break with the past, but the natural continuation of a course of more than twenty years.

As early as 2000, Sophie Panou had joined the lab's team, bringing with her many years of experience in graphic design. She had worked in advertising agencies and publishing houses, designing books, magazines and logos. She already knew Photoshop at that time and, through composition and design, had developed a particular relationship with the image and its aesthetics.

Her first contact with photography at the lab came through the traditional processes of the darkroom: printing and the hand retouching of analog photographs. Later, when the lab entered the digital era, this experience carried over to the editing and retouching of digital files, as well as to photo editing.

Today, the lab works mainly with professional photographers, but also with demanding amateurs who are looking for a real collaboration and want their images rendered with the greatest possible technical precision and aesthetic balance.

Our philosophy

Our move to digital processing was a slow and deliberate one. We had considerable reservations, mainly about the quality of the final printed result. The printers of that time used water-soluble inks, the choice of papers was limited, and their combination did not convince us in terms of the quality and aesthetics of the result. So we repeatedly postponed the decision to move to digital printing, until Epson's pigment technology appeared, first combined with its own papers and later with Hahnemühle's specialist papers.

This development gave a real answer to our requirements and opened the way to fine art inkjet printing to the quality standards we were looking for. For us, the digital process only made sense if the final result on paper could meet the criteria we had set through our long experience in analog photography. Without a sound final product, the rest of the journey, from scanning to editing, had no reason to exist.

Deep knowledge of the analog process is the foundation of our approach to digital processing as well. The process begins with setting up the scanner correctly when digitizing film and continues with careful basic editing of the files. Our main tools are Lightroom and Photoshop, programs that in recent years have incorporated highly advanced capabilities. In our view, on a purely technical level, they now offer a degree of control that in many cases exceeds what we could achieve with the traditional methods of the darkroom.

Whether this technical control also leads to an aesthetic result close to analog photography depends on how these tools are used. When our source is black-and-white or color film, careful digitization and editing can give a result that comes very close to the character and aesthetics of an analog print. When, on the other hand, the source is a digital file from a camera, we are facing a different starting point and, consequently, different aesthetic possibilities. We do not think it right to compare the two approaches in terms of one being superior to the other. They are different modes of photographic expression, and each time we choose the one that best suits the nature of the image.

For us, photographic processing is not merely a technical procedure. It is the creative care of the image, with knowledge, precision and aesthetic judgment, always with respect for the photographer's intention and the character of the original shot. Technology may change, means and possibilities may evolve, but the essence remains constant: respect for photographic creation and the pursuit of the best possible result.