GREECE | Friday, 5 July 2013 | Views [524] | View Larger Image
(NOTE: All of these photos were shot using 4 x 5 Ilford FP4+ film on a Wista Camera. )
Welcome to Greece. Most associate Greece with idyllic blue and white villas sprawled over slopes that look over the Aegean Sea or else exotic sunsets and beach parties. In this set of 3 simple images I hope to introduce to you the Greece that many ignore. The soul of Greece lies in its landscape and natural wonders. Every part of the Greek landscape is intricately woven into the fabric of its mythic culture. This is one among a set of five 1000 year old olive trees found on the small island of Paros. As you drive from the town of paroikia to another little town on the island, Lefkes, you are enveloped by a row of olive trees so majestic that one wonders if this were not where homer was once inspired. The olive tree has long been an integral part of Greek landscape and hence Greek myth. From Homer’s Odyssey to the Iliad, from ancient Greek myth to present day Greek orthodox rituals, the olive has stood as a symbol of rebirth, purification and abundance. Even today, one of Greece’s most characteristic elements is the olive tree. It stands as a firm link between the past and the present – the mythic and the real.
