Movement, Music, and Artistry with George Nebieridze

We talk with photographer George Nebieridze on thoughts, processes, and inspirations. This is a part of the Worlds Through Minds online photo walk series.

Produced by Worlds Through Minds founder, Macy Castañeda Lee.

- Name, age, where are you from, what format you like using, what are you currently working on if you are? 
I'm George Nebieridze, from Tbilisi, Georgia. I live and work in Berlin since 2013. I use 35mm film, always color and mostly on Nikon SLRs with prime lenses.

I recently finished my new website with a help of my dear friend Stefan Wunderwald. It was almost a year-long process, since it was created from scratch and I tend to be very particular when it comes to presenting my work. We're still adjusting some small details and will have a launch event on 13th of March in Berlin at Sankt Studio, accompanied by an artist talk and a limited edition print sale.

I'm also looking for a publisher to print my fifth book. The working title is "The Most Important Thing In The World". It should be big, thick and hard covered. I also do many commissioned portrait shoots of musicians and DJs who visit Berlin. I love working with musicians and hope one day I'll publish a separate book with those portraits. 

There are several other small things I'm excited about, like the release of Sensored magazine's fourth issue, which has my project about dancing couples inside, shot throughout last summer exclusively for Sensored. I also worked on a 36 page long fashion editorial for a Georgian magazine Amarta. The printed issue is out, but we still need to do an announcement online. It's an iconic magazine for Georgia, since it's being published for over 20 years now. I remember seeing it as a child and it's hard to believe my work is on its pages now.

- What about your surroundings/environments and upbringing interested you? 
I'm a very curious, life loving person and get fascinated by frankly everything. My inner child has never left. Many things that interested me as a child or a teenager still interest me, but in a bit more refined and comprehensive way. Most notable things have always been colors, people, different cultures, outer space and the phenomenal existence of our planet. I can't say I was particularly interested or inspired by my upbringing in Georgia, since the 90's were the hardest decade in my country's history, but I still found little things to keep me going and shape my artistic mind.

- When was the first time you met photography? How did you feel when you met it?
Photography in general, probably like most people, from family photos, but as an art form and a potential profession, it happened at around the age of 14-15 when my older brother came back from a trip with his friends and showed me some of the photos he'd taken on a very heavy and clumsy soviet film camera. I remember him explaining shutter speed and aperture to me. It happened in our parent's bathroom for some reason, can't recall why. I remember I couldn't stop thinking about operating this horrible heavy camera and taking photos.

Soon after I discovered DeviantArt and Flickr and sharing my photos online really motivated me to shoot more. I started annoying my friends in Tbilisi with firing bright flash into their faces at parties and taking photos of them while being drunk or fighting. Those photos soon caught attention of an editor at Vice who offered to feature my work on their website. It was an exhilarating experience, since it wasn't just about photos, their textures and colors, it was about making a statement and bringing a meaning to my work (even though those photos were mostly of my idiot friends getting into trouble, throwing up and trespassing).

- Tell us about current projects you have been working on (could be any, or just work you have been doing in general). Is this story inspired out of personal reasons, or others? What are you most excited about in these projects? 
I think I partially covered this in the first answer about my current projects, since this one is somewhat similar question, but there are couple of other projects I'm starting soon. I'm planning to organize a photography workshop in Berlin. Since 2026 marks my 20 years as a photographer I'd like to share some of my experience with other curious people. We'll explore various purposes of photography, help each other see photography from different perspectives and even gossip about certain current trends. Stay tuned! I'll do an official announcement soon.

I can't reveal much about this next project, but I'm compiling some of my more erotic and sensual work from my archive for a magazine I can't yet name. It's going to launch at Paris Photo this Autumn and is planned to be a deeply personal and sexual piece for me. I also have couple of exciting music-related bookings for summer which will involve a bit of travelling to new places. I love a good summer adventure with musicians. 

- How did you find your visual literacy? Why are you attracted to certain images more than others? 
I spent the first couple of years browsing a lot of photography in different genres. Discovered the legends like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Richard Avedon and really fell in love with their work, I even met Michael Kenna when he visited Georgia, but somehow the work of these photographers didn't really give me the urge to shoot more. Later on, I met Martin Parr and became friends with David Meskhi around the same time. That period was very inspiring and taught me a lot about the things I still admire in photography. Then came William Eggleston and Nan Goldin, who's work still shapes my vision and hunger for creating photos. The first thing that attracts me before taking a photograph is colour (that's why I find it a bit hard to shoot black and white), than comes a subject matter, composition and so on. I tend to gravitate  towards images that give me a feeling first, without too many words or conceptual statements. I feel the same way about music, for example; the lyrics and the song meaning come last for me. I'd rather feel the chord progressions, groove and melody instead of reading about struggles and a backstory of an artist.

- Imagine meeting someone who is picking up a camera for the first time. What do you tell them?

Don't. There are too many photographers already and the money is rarely good (hah). Jokes aside, this is a real issue. I don't mind the amount of people interested in photography, but I would like to see more people doing it because they're actually passionate about it, instead of doing it because they think it's another cool thing to do and impresses their friends. Also, don't do it for Instagram, for likes or for algorithm. That place is the most degrading and devastating thing for real photography. Also, apply to my workshop if you're in Berlin, we'll talk more there.