Antonis Champas was born and raised in Chania, Crete. He studied Electronic Engineering in Chania and worked in the field of his studies. His relationship with photography began at a very young age, using his parents’ film camera.
During his student years, his lifelong love for nature led him to explore the lesser-known Cretan inland, with a particular interest in gorges and caves. As photography was entering the digital era, he began photographing passionately, both as a means of documentation and as a way to highlight the grandeur of Crete’s natural landscape through his own perspective.
Around the same period, he also began observing wildlife, guided by valuable information and knowledge shared by a neighbour who had studied biodiversity since childhood.
Since 2017, following an accident, Antonis has been using a wheelchair. This led him to search for different ways to reconnect with nature. Almost two years later, encouraged by a friend, he returned to photography, initially focusing on landscapes and gradually on anything he found visually compelling, with wildlife soon captivating him and becoming a major part of his work.
A defining moment in his engagement with wildlife photography came in the summer of 2020, during a chance meeting at a wetland with photographer Fotis Samaritakis, whose work on the biodiversity of Crete he had long followed and admired.
In recent years, his photographic work has expanded beyond nature, with a strong focus on concerts, theatre performances and other stage events. He has held solo exhibitions and has also participated in group exhibitions.
Beyond the personal interest and fulfilment that photography offers him, his aim is to draw people’s attention to nature — encouraging them to connect with it, observe the natural environment around them and, ultimately, respect it more.
