Commercial photographer George Apostolidis worked out early on that the world of sport was gospel to him.
Apostolidis remembers being handed a football on the day he arrived in Melbourne.
His next-door neighbour, a six-foot Irish woman, greeted the boys with a strange red oval ball that had the boys enraptured.
“That was like giving a ball of yarn to kittens – my brother and I just loved football from that moment.”
George’s welcoming greeting might have been short-lived. Thrust into school at eight years old without knowing the language, school was very boring.
“We were just placed in a classroom, and you just had to fend for yourself or work out what the hell was going on.
“I do remember pensive moments of just sitting there, thinking, ‘What the hell do I say?’, or, ‘What’s going on?’”
He does remember the playground, where the language barrier faded and everyone spoke the word of sport.
“The only time that I actually enjoyed the class was recess because you could actually get out of the classroom and run around, and perhaps have some sort of contact with sign language with other people.
“While you were in the classroom, you were sitting there for one and a half to two hours, watching someone talk and not knowing what they were saying, and not being able to ask.”
It took George and his brother a good six months to settle into the school and start communicating with the other pupils. What really helped was football. Being connected by a team and striving for a common goal, the language barrier was never as strong. George flourished with the help of a considerate coach.
“Our coach consciously went around the community of Carlton picking migrant kids, picking other kids that came for destitute families, and put these kids together to allow them to assimilate and to bond.
“And it worked; we’re still friends today.”
It was the Greek migrant mentality to strive for success that pushed George to follow a meaningful career.
Seeing his parents come home exhausted after working laborious, monotonous jobs, all to ensure the children’s future, made George work to redeem his parents’ efforts.
Failing year 12 was the push he needed. George’s passion for photography reared its head and placed him on the road to success.
“When it finally hit that I’d failed something, then it really hit. Things have got to change big time,” he says.
Despite going down the same path as his brother by working towards a science degree, he soon realised that his interest lay in photography.
“I enjoyed art – I did photography for my end of year folio for HSC the second time round, and I got 100 per cent for it. It formed my career,” he says.
With over 25 years experience, George travels the world to capture stunning photos for his clients. He specialises in big projects and spends six months of the year photographing five star hotels throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas.
He’s been named best commercial industrial photographer of the year and best advertising photographer of the year in 2007 and 2000 respectively.