Archive | autumn

A stop in Athens and a return to Paros…

By John on October 1, 2013 in Athens Greece, autumn, beauty, darkroom work, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, working

Last week I made my way to Athens, meeting up with the Aegean Center students and teachers fresh from their September sojourn in Italy. I was very nervous, not having met any of the new students yet and feeling as if I was under a microscope. Perhaps I was the one with the microscope, I am not sure, but that is how I felt. Anyway…

The 24 students all arrived safely and we made our way via motor-coach to the hotel in the Monastiraki area of town. The Hotel Attalos sits just below the Acropolis of the Parthenon and close to some of the best museums and archeological destinations in the world. The next three days were spent visiting these sites and listening to Jeffrey Carson’s excellent orations on history, culture and art. The Parthenon, the Parthenon Museum and the National Archeological Museum were our group destinations, but afterwards the students enjoyed enough free time to visit other places, shop and eat some excellent Greek food. On Saturday morning we all awoke very early for another short bus ride to the Port of Pireaus, boarded the Blue Star Naxos and made our way back home, back to Paros and the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts studios and labs.

The classes began yesterday and I have several students in the darkroom. Some have no experience whatsoever while there are others with some darkroom history behind them. It is a vibrant and excited group. They are also taking other courses so in order to meet with them it must always be after all their other commitments, later in the evening and never all at once. This will make necessary demonstrations (film and paper developing, for instance) difficult to arrange. I will work with what I am given and be grateful.

I have added a couple of images from the Athens segment of the art history tour…

JDCM

At the Parthenon, September 2013

At the National Archeological Museum

Bike-hiking and new gear…

By John on September 17, 2013 in autumn, beauty, biking, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, stone walls, Uncategorized, working

I have been exploring the island these sunny, warm days. I have found a couple of small, very rocky and rough beaches on the north side of the bay, facing Syros, north along the coast from the cave of Archilochos. They are all but inaccessible unless one rides a bike, hikes or has 4-wheel drive. A few days ago I went back to one of them with the goal of not returning the way I arrived. From a decent height I could see smaller paths and a narrow road. I knew I couldn’t bike it, and that I would have to push/carry the bike a certain way uphill, over rocks and walls, before I reached the road. According to the map, the road wound about until it reached the Delion of Apollo, one of the higher points on the island and an ancient temple site.

So that’s what I did. I biked down to the beach area, went for a swim, then packed up my panniers (more about them) and pushed the bike up the hill. There was some real problem solving involving a small gorge, some backtracking, plenty of thorns (shades of Sikinos!) but I eventually made it to the road. It was a pretty easy ride to the Delion after that and then a downhill ride back to town. It was only about 8 km but with all the uphill struggle and 15 kilos of bike and gear, I’ll add another few km to that count. A nice day, and fun.

I bought panniers for the bike. Now I don’t have to wear a day-pack anymore. This was making me top-heavy. The center of gravity has been lowered and I am finding them convenient and efficient. Below are four incarnations of my current mode of transport. There is enough room for all kinds of gear.

Beach Bike

Mountain bike

Hiking bike

Shopping bike

JDCM

Windy Monday…

By John on September 9, 2013 in autumn, beauty, black and white portraiture, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, Paros Portraits, portraiture, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, working

The sun was brilliant today and the Meltemi had a decidedly autumnal feel. It has howled all day, and continues the howl through the tangle of electrical lines crisscrossing the small section of Paroikia I call home. The cypress trees whip back and forth and Bougainvillea blossoms, free from their thorny moorings, sail their over-saturated colors into my small apartment.

It is Monday, September 9, 2013 and I have taken down my exhibit. I have enjoyed the three-week long event. I think of my images differently than when I hung them. What was once ‘Giorgos and Giorgos‘ I refer to as ‘Don Quixote and Sancho Panza‘; ‘Erin‘ is now ‘The Vermeer Photograph’; ‘Angelika‘ I think of as ‘The Abstract Realist.’ Things change, the Earth tilts and wobbles, the days shorten, the air cools and we slide into bright autumn. I can almost smell the rain, but I know that is just an illusion.

Now I am filled with melancholia, ennui, a sense of emptiness. As I write this at Mikro Kafe I realize that in an hour there will be no need for me to open up the Aegean Center, turn on the lights and arrange the easeled sign outside on the marble steps. All of that is past. My portraits are safely in their crate, currently a large piece of furniture in my flat. The sign, too, is there, tucked behind a bookcase.

I have little choice but to get back to work. That is the best way to shake off these ghosts.

JDCM

The reward of September…

By John on September 4, 2013 in autumn, beauty, black and white portraiture, craft, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, Paros Portraits, quiet islands, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

Blue Menu #1

August is past and July is a memory. The streets of Paroikia are no longer mobbed with summer tourists. The groups of families have departed, returning to their homes. The weather is lovely,warm and sunny–breezy and cooler at night. The beaches are quiet, all but deserted. The wind is from the north, about Force 5, gusting to 6, which is about 33 to 38 km. This made for a nice headwind as I rode my usual 11.5 km out to a beach on the northern part of the island today. I was alone for a solid hour until a couple walked onto the sand. I swam, read my book, and left in no particular hurry. I had a tailwind all the way back to town.

I am still very pleased with my exhibit. I take it down in a few days and put it away. It has been a good run. I have had excellent conversations with other photographers about the craft as well as people wanting to know more about the Aegean Center. I feel my work spoke for itself.

So for all of our industry and patience during the summer months, those of us on Paros are presented with the reward of September.

JDCM

Gallery sitting…

By John on August 28, 2013 in 4×5 photography, autumn, beauty, black and white portraiture, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, Paros Portraits, portraiture, quiet islands, skill and craft, working

It is quiet here on Paros. The tourists are leaving in a steady flow. French, English, Italian and Greek…For many of them next week is the beginning of the school year for their children. Here at the Aegean Center, this is true as well. The Autumn Term begins next week in Italy. My show comes down in 11 days. I am very pleased with the reception I have had. I am still seeing about 25 people per night visiting the exhibition and have had many interesting conversations with tourists and locals alike.

The summer is winding down and I am about to experience my first September on Paros. I have heard it is the best time of year, a reward for making it through the high season: warm, sunny, quiet…

So I will ride my bike, swim in the sea, take care of some maintenance in the school darkroom, sweep the courtyard and water the plants.

Before I know it it will be September 25th and I will be in Athens, meeting up with the school and then returning here on the 28th. To paraphrase Bukowski, time runs like wild horses over the hills…

JDCM

Spring unfolds at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts…

By John on March 4, 2013 in autumn, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

The spring session has begun here on Paros at the Aegean Center. The students have mostly all arrived, riding in on the winds and waves. It poured rain all day yesterday and the streets turned into small rivers. By last night the clouds had rolled away and today is sunny and bright. I have many thoughts running through my head, so many raindrops, really, and in many cases just as discarnate. Add them up, however, and they are a flood, a river of their own. I found it comforting to stop thinking. I loaded up some Plus-X, grabbed my tripod and headed down the now undimmed streets of Paroikia. Action, not thinking, always improves my day.

I will be painting again this session. I will also apply the finishing touches on a large format photography project that I began last year, a series of portraits of people I know here on Paros. They are students, ex-pats, local Parians…My Greek barber, Nikos, for instance, as well as the English owner of a local cafe. A motley crew to be sure. I will finish the principle photography and printing in the next three months, bring all the final proofs to Athens and have them matted and framed. I hope to accomplish this before the end of June when I head back to America for a month. When I return in August I will hang the show and open the exhibit. It will be the culmination of my work here at the Center, my Masters Thesis in Photography, if you will. I have no idea where the show will be. I’ll stick my neck out again. So far that hasn’t been the most successful venture here on Paros. I have lost my head more times than not (certainly gaining wisdom) but what choice do I have? “Action and more action…”, as they say…What follows my exhibition is anyone’s guess. I suddenly feel lost at sea with the prospect of September.

I will be assisting again in the darkroom with the students, as I did last fall, so my energies will be focused on their work more than my own. Like the weather moving in circles, alternating rain, sun wind and calm, the Aegean Center is part of the cycle of change. I cannot do much except sit back and trust the process, let the story write itself and accept the results. Once again, to assume anything would be foolish, self-serving and arrogant. As of this morning I am excited to work with five or six (maybe seven) students, some who have never handled silver emulsion and some with more knowledge. We shall see how the session evolves. I remember having many preconceived notions of photography when I arrived here on Paros three years ago. They were soon dashed in favor of a new and vibrant dynamic. As a lotus blossom, spring unfolds…

JDCM

American return…

By John on December 18, 2012 in autumn, beauty, Greece, skill and craft, Uncategorized

My flight from Vienna to NY/JFK was uneventful. I actually slept little which is not normal for me, so maybe that’s an event. When I returned to Ancramdale I was able to stay awake until about 11PM and then crawled into bed and slept soundly until around 5:15AM. That will change in a week or so but right now I am awake in this quiet early-morning house, my mother and a caregiver downstairs asleep. The eastern sky is just beginning to grow pale…almost 7AM.

It has been just over 4 months since I last saw my mother, and vice-a-versa. This is, I think, compounded her everyday confusion by making her suddenly aware that I have been gone and that I have returned. There were also moments of “who is your mother?” last night while we watched Jeopardy, questions which are unnerving for me, to say the least. Like so many people in her life who have dropped off of her social map, I am walking on the fringes of her memory. I put a positive face on it though and we changed the subject a little, easing her discomfort. I hope that within the next few days she will have forgotten I went anywhere and have been here all the time. That would be a relief for both of us.

My time in Vienna was lovely, although the weather was a bit gloomy at times. Still, it makes for good museum weather and I took advantage of that. As I stated earlier the Albertina Museum and Durer exhibit were stunning, some of the works not having been displayed for over 50 years. I saw the ‘Triumphal Procession’ (among many other pieces) in all of its 54 meter glory, the other 50 meters being lost to history. I was planning on going to see ‘The Third Man’ that night at the Burg Kino Theater, but by 9:30PM I still had over an hour to wait and I suddenly felt the need to just relax and not push the plan. So I called it an early night and hit the rack. I have had the Vienna/Third Man experience twice already. I could skip it this time.

The next day was drizzly and cold and I trudged over to the Kunst Historiches Museum for a day of Great Masters and palatial Hapsburg splendor. I was not disappointed. I made a wise decision and rented one of the audio guides. Even though I already knew much of what the guide told me, it slowed down my journey through the building thus providing a more enjoyable experience. It is safe to assume that there were whole rooms devoted to Rubens, Breugal, Velasquez and others. Truly the booty from one of the most powerful and wide-reaching empires in world history. From Vienna, the Hapsburgs directly controlled all of Europe, except for England, Russia and parts of the southern Balkans. Massive power and wealth. The French Louis’ were common landowners compared to what became the Dual Monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In any case, they could afford to either buy it all since everyone worked for them. Here is a list of just some of their employees, all of whom I was able to view last Saturday: Titian, Tintoretto, Velasquez, Durer, Holbein, Rubens (2 rooms!), Altdorfer, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and Bruegel. That is the Top Ten. There were whole salons of painters with whom I was not familiar.

The next day I had a great time with my friend Mathias and his family. I walked in the park and had lunch with them and photographed the three of them with their young son, Anton. It was such a nice time. Then I went to the Schloss Belvedere to see the very large Klimt show. Hmmm…After the previous day, Klimt fell flat for me. What was gently impressive, however, was the exhibit upstairs of the late 19th c. painter Erik Jakob Schindler. I loved the work and I ended up purchasing a small book.

So Vienna was a success: good food, good friends, good art and once again, worth the trip–more than just a stop-over on my way back to the US from Greece. I think I will try to make it back there this spring for a few days.

JDCM

Note: for some reason I cannot add links with the text. You’ll have to investigate stuff on your own…

Post time…Vienna…

By John on December 14, 2012 in autumn, beauty, Greece, nude studies, Paros, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

I haven’t posted in quite a while. I’ll give the short-story to catch up and then expound a bit…

The student exhibition for the Fall 2012 Aegean Center was lovely. The students worked hard, expressed their individual talents and it showed. That’s all I have to say really, except well done to all! I am looking forward to the spring session and all that it may hold. Challenges, rewards, hard work, hikes, frustrations and solutions. It all makes up the rich pageant that is the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts.

I traveled to Athens and stayed there for two days. While I was there I was able to see an exhibit from the photographer Helmut Newton. I was surprised. I have seen much of his work over the years, in books mostly, so to see full-sized prints was stunning. There was also a movie, made by his wife of almost 50 years, June Newton. It portrayed a man severely maligned by the press and the photo-world as being a pervert and a weirdo. The truth was eye-opening. He worked hard, used incredible skill with no trickery and produced some of the more iconic images in fashion I have ever seen. His CV reads like a who’s-who of the fashion world: Vogue, Elle, Yves St. Laurent…the list goes on. His commentary was clear and the filmed interactions with his models proved beyond a doubt the level of respect for their professionalism and grace. At one point he said that his goal was to make a fashion shoot not look like a fashion shoot, but rather something from a movie. He also talked about the gear he uses, i.e. not much: a Hasselblad 500 and a Polaroid for the light tests. He switched to a basic canon EOS digital later on his career for the lighting tests. Very few exterior lights and almost no studios that looked like studios. His eye captured the realities behind the shoot as well as the focus. I left the show feeling like it was a good two hours spent in the afternoon. The next day I flew to Vienna and was greeted by the lights of a city in Christmas season and the weather to match. It’s cold here, folks. Last night it went down to 18*F. Today was cloudy and chilly and snow is predicted for tomorrow night.

I visited the Albertina Museum today to see the Albrecht Durer show. It was a huge event focusing on his work during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I. Many of the works mentioned in the Wiki article were on display for the first time in decades. I have to leave descriptions of those for the next post since I will include many links.

Tonight I dine on tafelspitz and then walk down to the Burg Kino Theater and watch ‘The Third man’.

JDCM

Dentistry and roast pork…

By John on November 12, 2012 in autumn, beauty, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft

As everyone knows by now, Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States, his second term. I, for one, and happy although the victory is bittersweet for me. This is the first major election in which I have not participated. My absentee ballot for New York State never reached Paros. I checked on-line and I am still registered. Obviously a mix-up somewhere. New York went thoroughly blue, so it wasn’t a huge deal (my absentee vote probably would not have mattered) but I feel it is still important to participate. Enough of that subject.

During the fall break I was on Andiparos. One evening while enjoying the satisfying crunch of potato chips, I bit down on something much more crunchy than the crisps and, thinking it was just a fried chunk of spud, swallowed it. It turned out that the side of one of my lower molars had sheared off and that is what I ate. It did not expose the root, so there was no pain or sensitivity but it did necessitate a visit to the local periodontist–a Greek word, by the way. After short research I was given a choice between the authentic, mad Greek dentist full of charm and local color or the modern young fellow up the street who had been recommended by another ex-pat. I chose the less colorful, more practical path and made a visit to Panagiotis Hondros, DMD, Msc. He took one look and booked me in at the beginning of the next week. Long story short, he re-built my tooth for 60 Euros (last week) and this week cleaned my teeth for another 70. In the USA this would have cost me hundreds of dollars and I would have had to have waited a month for the first appointment. I was very impressed. I was so impressed I have booked him for some cosmetic work on a tooth that has become discolored following a root canal in my mid-teens. It will be a simple procedure and we start bleaching next week.

As I write this post in Pebbles Jazz Bar, overlooking the bay of Paroikia, I am also roasting a bone-in pork loin. Some would call this multi-tasking. Here they call pork loin ‘pancetta’, not to be confused with the Italian bacon of the same name. Here is the recipe:

1 bone-in pork loin, approx. 1.5 kilos

4 small onions and three carrots, sliced in half, both from Dimitri, the old man who sells vegetables here in the streets.

7 cloves of garlic, chopped

fresh rosemary, gathered from the hills just below Marathi

fresh oregano, gathered on a hike along the Byzantine Road above Aspro Chorio

sea salt/ fresh cracked black pepper

200 ml extra virgin olive oil, from olives grown near Boutakos

Mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped herbs and garlic in a bowl to make a paste. Place the halved vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan to create the ‘rack’ on which to rest the meat. Pre-heat the oven to 190C (375*F). Smear the pork, all over, with the paste and place in the pan, on the onions and carrots. Roast until done, about 1 1/2 hours. Take out of the oven and let the roast rest for about 10 minutes, then dig in. I plan on gnawing on this for the next few days. Below is a photo, before cooking, to give you a visual of what it should look like after it is prepared.

JDCM

Parian roast pork

Sunny days, cooler nights…

By John on November 4, 2012 in autumn, beauty, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft

The mid-term break here at the Aegean Center on Paros has drawn to a close. The first day of the rest of the session begins tomorrow with our Monday morning meeting, and back to work we go. As usual, most of the students went traveling, as they should, and many came back in time to knuckle down and get back into the swing of things before the final push begins: 31 days until the student exhibit and I, for one, have not done enough. Granted, I have been shooting a lot of film and developing it, but my digital projects have slowed and I haven’t been printing as much as I should. I am not worried, however, as I know what and how much I can do and how to accomplish these tasks, but the newer students are just now acclimating to the idea that they are here to work as well as explore. First the push, then the crunch and before anyone knows it, it is time to say ‘farewell’ to Paros, unless they are lucky enough to return in the spring, a session that breathes at a different rate then the fall.

As I write this dispatch from Pebble’s Jazz Bar, overlooking the quiet bay of Paroikia, in America the election for the President slouches towards the the doorsteps of millions, like a wary and red-eyed dog begging for greasy scraps. On Tuesday evening the tally will reveal the overall tenor for the next four years of that country’s leadership and how this beast will be fed. Of course, this election will effect the whole world. If Obama wins, I hope he will have a chance to do more than just clean up his predecessor’s terrible messes. If Romney is chosen to succeed, I fear the world will see what kind of mess can be created by a man with a parochial world view, a medieval stance on civil rights, freedom of speech and a religious background that I, for one, must call cultish at best. I imagine the worst. For a good idea of what this could mean, please feel free to read ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood. To think that a military theocracy is impossible for the United States in this age is to bury your head in the sand.

The days have been warm and sunny. There has been a shift in the breeze, from south to north, resulting in clearer skies and cooler nights. I am hoping for more rain this week. As the temperature slowly drops this becomes more likely, but the weather report doesn’t list this as a possibility. More good news along with the weather is that the water in the darkroom has dropped to a lovely 21C. This makes my life easier: small mercies for a possible bleak future. I hope Yeats is wrong but poets seldom are.

JDCM

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