Archive | quiet islands

Man, oh man, oh man…

By John on December 22, 2016 in beauty, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, Uncategorized

Ha! Well, I had grand ideas about updating the blog after the Presidential Election in America…and then I did not. Then again when I went to Santorini for a quick visit…and I didn’t. Time has gone by, the Winter Solstice was yesterday and in acknowledging this planetary shift I am locked in to updating this thing today. This afternoon, I think. I’ll write, edit, load the new header image and post from the very same cafe where I currently sit, snug and warm and out of the cold and rain. And, yes…I have a head cold. Shit. ‘Tis the season. It is a wet and windy 6C (42F) outside and with the 43km north wind it feels more like 3C (38F). Suffice to say that those of us who live in houses without central heating all wear clothes, all the time. I sleep in fleece and base layers. And a hat.

So there are the bullet points.

–Santorini was good. I went solely to visit the archeological site of Akrotiri, which was closed the last time I visited 10 years ago. I took the ferry on Friday afternoon, saw the site and both museums the next morning and then took the boat back. I was off-island for just over 24 hours. I was glad to be back on Paros. Aside from the caldera and the archeological sites, Santorini is pretty dull. Too built up, too barren and, at this time of year, mostly closed. Some that is no one’s fault. 3400 years ago the place blew up and has never really recovered. I guess that is part of its charm. It is, after all, still an active volcano. This link is really good…Hey man…that’s my neighbourhood!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_eruption

–I have been re-watching ‘The Sopranos’ since I never actually finished the series a few years years ago. It is very good. I have fallen in love with this clan of sociopathic narcissistic trash. Really amazing. Like watching a train wreck. And then, somewhere in the middle of Season 2, or maybe 3, it dawned on me…The White House has been handed over to The Sopranos! Think about it. Complete with a goon squad!

–“For the love of money is the root of many evils…” (1 Timothy 6:10) If this guy (I daren’t say his name) didn’t have any money, he’d just be another vulgar, racist, sexist, loud-mouthed, annoying asshole xenophobe sitting at the end of the bar. Really. No joke. He is proof that money cannot buy you class or taste. In fact, he symbolizes all that is wrong and bad in our world–avarice, hubris, graft, ignorance–a deep soul-sickness lying beneath his veneer-like need for attention. He is the winner of that contest, hands down. I think he’d even win the popular vote. This makes him very dangerous. Anyone who studies history knows this.

–I’ll blog again before the new year. There is more to report from this lovely rock in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Have a Merry Christmas everyone, or whatever you wish to celebrate!

–JDCM

Autumn, elections, swimming, biking…even photography!

By John on November 8, 2016 in 120 film, 35 mm photography, beauty, biking, craft, darkroom work, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, mountain biking in Greece, Paros, Polly Jo Masters, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

*It has taken me some time to get back on the horse. I was out the other day with my Voigtlander, exposing some film…it felt good…gentle. No urgency, no great time-line to follow. So I took some pictures. I have some ideas.

*I have been combing through my negative notebooks, trying to find images of my mother’s office. I have found some. I know there are others. I would like to print some of these this winter.

*I need to type up my mother’s newspaper articles. I keep on saying that to myself…siga-siga…it’ll happen.

*I developed the 4 rolls of Tri-X that I shot when I was back in America in July. The camera I had on hand was a medium format Holga, so that’s what I used. I guess that sums up a philosophy…The best camera I could use is the one I am using. People talk a lot about camera X, or lens Y. They list the many attributes and the technical aspects…these things never made a photographer better, or even good. That has to come from within. Ansel Adams said something about that…good gear, bad photography…I can’t remember the exact quote. Liz knows.

*It is autumn, and we have had some cooler weather, but not right now. It is Little Summer and the scirocco blows a steady Force 5, gusting to 6. The air is hazy and hot and feels like 26C. I was out for a bit of mountain biking and then a swim in the sea. People here say the water is cold, but they haven’t been in Cape Cod in August.

*The election for the next American President is today. Polls have begun to open, voters are lining up to cast their ballots. There is so much at stake in this contest. I am not sure anyone can really guess everything that hangs in the balance. I mailed in my absentee ballot well over a month ago. We shall see. I am more concerned about the potential for aggression and actual violence at the polls. America will be divided whatever the outcome.

–JDCM

Thoughts meander…

By John on September 28, 2016 in Athens Greece, autumn, beauty, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, Uncategorized, working

The sun rose golden peaches as I departed the Port of Pireaus 3/4 of the way through September. I have been back in Greece and on Paros since the middle of August. Through a window of the Blue Star Delos and across the gulf the mountains surround Attica. How I love this place. Ancient rocks cradle my heart and timeless seas ferry me home…

I haven’t blogged in a long time and I apologize. Sometimes I have had too much on my mind and to sort out any coherent thoughts and to put them down seems daunting. What I need is time to let the events of the past year-and-half filter out into something resembling…something, something solid.

I return to the island after a long weekend wth friends on another island, another archipelago. This marks the last of my long-term commitments for 2016 and I finally feel like I can relax. The deeply emotional yet business-like events of laying my mother to rest and selling the family home are behind me. My inherited furnitures, works of art, books and homewares are tucked away in storage units. I packed my bags with those things that I could smuggle and left America. Oddly enough, I feel no sadness in leaving the house I called home for so long. With my mother’s absence, the place felt empty and hollow. She had been its heart and soul and without her it was just a shell.

I have finally found an ear doctor who has offered anything like a solution to my labyrinthitis/Meuniere’s/tinnitus…Dr. Peraki’s prescription has improved my hearing almost 10% over the past month so I have been told to keep at the regimen and we shall see what is what in about 2 months, just before Christmas.

Speaking of that…one novel feeling…I am not thinking about plane tickets back to America. This time, during the past several years, I would begin looking at dates, routes, etc…not today, thank the gods. I am looking forward to being here through all of December and January, February, without the interruption of having to leave.

And so on I ramble…

—JDCM

Kythnos and a change of plan…

By John on May 25, 2016 in 35 mm photography, beauty, Cyclades stone walls, Cycladic stone walls, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, stone walls, Uncategorized, working

–There is a lot to see and do on Kythnos and by the time I leave on Friday I will have seen and done most of it. Superb hiking, archaeological sites (mesolithic, Byzantium, 19th century mining…), good eats, friendly folks…The weather was so-so for the first two days but then the sun came out, the winds shifted and there was fine weather for getting lost on the donkey trails and photographing more stone walls than I knew what to do with. I am pretty much saturated with walls at the moment. I have a feeling I will finish up the roll I have in my camera today and be done with this island for the time being. I have one more long hike to do tomorrow (12 km) so perhaps I will try to use one more roll. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.

–I found an excellent little taverna on the port of Merichas. Typical family-run, spitiko, without all the frippish tom-foolery of frankish cuisine. I ate roasted goat in lemon sauce last night; grilled fresh sardines the night before…local, mild feta on my salads. I’ll go there again tonight. Funny thing…when Kostas, the owner’s son, heard I was from Paros, he told me that his cousin Giorgos worked in a fish taverna in Paroikia…Hmmm…I know Giorgos well! We had a good time and then Kostas called Giorgos and he and I had a quick chat. I love these alliances. So Yalos Byzantio is my spot. I dine there again tonight.

–My lodging has been excellent. My small studio overlooks the harbour of Merichas. The ferries dock just a few hundred meters away and the ins-and-outs of tourist sailors in their small rented sailboats make for interesting comedy-drama. Only some seem to be good sailors. The rest look like they are trying too park their cars. Oh well…I wish them all the fun in the world. The Aegean is a lovely place to sail.

–I am tired. I am tired of living out of my luggage. I will have a lot more of that this summer so I suppose I should get used to it, but for the moment…

I left Paros on May 10th, after a four-day general strike which threw all my plans into the air. As a result of this strike, I was forced to use one of the High-Speed ferries that runs around the Aegean. I hate these things for many reasons. The only other time I was on one was in 2006 and I picked up a terrible respiratory bug just by being shut inside the interior for several hours with no fresh air. True to form, by the time I reached Evia on Thursday the 12th, my throat was scratchy. By Saturday I was on antibiotics, decongestants…sick. 11 days later I am finally off the meds. I need to go home. I feel great, but it is time to sit on my own terrace, sleep in my own bed…

As luck would have it, the same ferry that would have brought me to Syros, continues on home to Paros. So I will leave Kythnos Friday morning and be home in time for tea…

Pezoules, walls and and Agios Anathasios, Kythnos, 2016

–JDCM

Travel notes, May 2016…Kea…

By John on May 18, 2016 in 35 mm photography, beauty, Cyclades stone walls, Cycladic stone walls, Greece, hiking in the Cyclades, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, quiet islands, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, stone walls, working

–The short ferry ride from Lavrio to Kea is, despite its single hour, quite remarkable. As a student of 20th century Balkan History I had heard of, and read about, the concentration camp island of Makronisos, but I had not realized it lay so close to the mainland. As we slowly sailed past I could see the ruins of buildings and structures…political prisoners, social dissidents and members of the military suspected of being “infected” with dangerous ideas were sent to Makronisos during the Greek Civil War (1946-49). For a more detailed and moving account of this time, read Kevin Andrews’ The Flight of Ikaros: a journey into Greece. Ironically, I re-read this book only a few weeks ago…

–Kea is a rugged place. Smaller than Paros, yet it feels bigger. The Port of Korissia is small and around the port are a number of meadows heading inland, but only for a short distance. After that it is a long climb to the chora, Loulida, perched along the ravine. The streets in the chora are steep and car-free. It is pretty little town and the archeological museum is supposed to be one of the best in Greece. It is, however, only open on Friday from 08:00-15:00 and so I will miss it. Kea reminds me of a smaller and greener Naxos.

–The flora of Kea is very much the same as on Paros and many of the other islands with one lovely exception: the pedunculate oak. For centuries, Kea supplied the tanners of Greece, Rome, Venice, etc… with acorn caps. By the end of the 19th century this practice had been replaced with less expensive synthetic processes so the acorn was not needed and the thriving industry collapsed. Thank God they didn’t cut down the trees! You know what…go here instead. These folks know more about it than I do and are a big part of the new sustainable Kea.

–Kea is still a thriving agricultural island and this is evident when one hikes along the well used donkey paths and other by-ways. Pommes de terre are numerous! The xcero-lithia that crisscross the island are lovely, beautiful, crafted…some are so old that the moss and lichen that cover them are dissolving them, turning their hard edges round and soft. New wall construction is in the old fashion, so the technique is being preserved.

–I will have shot three rolls of 35mm film when I leave on Friday as well as fair amount of digital. I have been hiking a lot although I did rent a car. It is a good idea so at least get up and out of town into the interior before setting out walking to a cove or mountain top. This time of year it is quite empty outside the port, so it has been rare to see anyone else but the occasional goat. Most of the others I have seen are, I think, French and English. I cannot be sure. Athenian day sailors like Kea too.

–If I had brought my mountain bike, I would have rented a car anyway for the same reasons as above. Mountain biking on pavement is a drag and bad for the tires. Best to load the bike into a car and drive inland, park, and bike on the dirt roads. For road biking, anyone who wants constant interval training on hills, come to Kea. The fun never ends.

–JDCM

Another year…

By John on February 18, 2016 in beauty, biking, darkroom work, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, mountain biking in Greece, Paros, Polly Jo Masters, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

I am 51 and a day today. This past year has been one that is still hitting me in waves, endless ripples from countless stones tossed in my emotional pool. I contemplate making a phone call and suddenly realize there is will be no one on the other end of the line. I imagine a voice and the softness of a cheek…and they are gone. My mother will no longer look up from the New York Times Sunday crossword, over her glasses, and announce, “Well, that’s done!” My father will no longer smack his lips after taking a sip of something tasty and raise his glass. He was always one for toasts. “Hear, hear,” she would chorus during better times.

Polly and Hilary in Provincetown, 1970.

I was thinking the other day that I have never been the “cool” guy. Never hip, never dressed in the latest fashion…I was feeling down that day. Then I realized I didn’t care. When I was younger, maybe, but then again I was envious of those around me who had better or more or newer or sexier (or so I believed)…not much weight there. Pretty superficial stuff. I hope they are happy in their respective lives.

So these days I do what I am wanting to do and this makes me happy. I am not treading on the lives of others and I am moving forward and slightly uphill. I am honouring my mother and my father in my life and activities. I am finally getting around to reading a short biography of St. Augustine given to me by my sister a few years ago. I am reading some Epicurus. I am back to building fine scale WW 1 aircraft which give me great joy and satisfaction, not just in their execution but in the research involved. I am in training for a very tough mountain bike race being held here March 6th. I have a photo shoot coming up next week which I have been looking forward to for months. It will be several hours of intense work, and then that stage will be done. Then I develop the film. Then I choose what to print, etc…intervals and stages, tension and release. One day I am 50, and then the next day…

Biking here on Paros is a good metaphor for my life. The stress of the uphill slogs are rewarded by not only the accomplishment but also the release of the inevitable downhill run, slaloming around rocks and through washed out sections of red dirt roads. Then it is uphill again.

It all feels pretty cool to me.

–JDCM

January on Paros…

By John on February 1, 2016 in beauty, biking, craft, darkroom work, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, mountain bike race, mountain biking in Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft

The header image is from New York, a view of the family property in Ancramdale. It is a winter scene. Looks pretty cold and all but monochromatic. That where I had been since December 1st, 2015. Much has happened since then. You all know that. Life and death. Pretty important.

I have been back in Greece since January 22 and today is February 1, 2016! Kalo Mina everyone! I am back on Paros and the weather has been lovely–mid-teens Celsius with light breezy winds. It was pretty cold when I arrived. It will get cold again, I think. I am a fortunate man.

A view in Marathi, Paros, February 1, 2016

It is so quiet here, so perfect. In a couple of weeks I will begin a new photo project and I am looking forward to that. There is also a mountain bike race on March 6th for which I am training. After two months out of the saddle I need some time to get fit, but hey, it’s like riding a bike, right? Ha!

One would think that I have some great wisdom to impart, but really I don’t. I guess I’ll have to paraphrase my friend Jac who reminds us all to follow your heart, do your exercises, and eat your peas…or whatever. The food is relative.

–JDCM

Need for beauty…

By John on November 19, 2015 in autumn, beauty, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, spiritual journey, Thanksgiving

With all the horror, pain and uncertainty in the world, I need to remind myself there is real beauty in the world. It is just down the street, around the corner or on the table in a bowl, sun shining…More can be found here…

Cypress cones, Paros, Greece…November 2015

Local clementines, just picked, sunshine, glass, marble…

Pomegranates, lemons, bay leaves from a nearby tree and a pear…

–JDCM

Just an update…

By John on October 29, 2015 in 35 mm photography, autumn, beauty, biking, craft, darkroom work, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, mountain biking in Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, Uncategorized, working

I have always loved the change of seasons. Whether in the Hudson Valley where I grew up or the small island in the Aegean Sea where I now live. I welcome each new season with joy and relief, only to say good riddance three months later after weariness sets in. This autumn is no different and there are many changes to go along with the weather. Clocks have been set back. Tea time seems more meaningful as darkness falls.

I have been living in an apartment full of boxes for the past two months. All of my books, shelving, camera gear, odds and ends…have been packed up and ready to be moved. At first it was an exciting feeling, to come home to this pyramid of brown cardboard. It has grown stale as the day approaches when I can finally begin to move from one side of town to the other. As one friend remarked last night, moving house is inspiring and makes one reevaluate routines. Like the change of seasons, this move will give me a new perspective. I need it.

My small photo show was, on many levels, a superb success. Many people came to the opening and I was struck by the wide variety of people I know here on Paros: people involved in the arts, those I know through the local biking community, others I have come to know over the years, students from a local art school…people who would ordinarily not mix. They crammed into the space provided by a small Italian restaurant and had a good time. I guess that was the point, really, to have a small gathering on a night in mid-October when there was ordinarily little to do. Many compliments, many questions…alas, not a single sale so I am stuck with 22 framed and matted photos. So I will choose one to put up in my new apartment. There is a part of me that wants to just burn the rest. But what to do with the frames and glass? Eventually I will get around to scanning the photos so people can see them online, which suddenly feels like cheating. Now I don’t want to do that. If you missed the show, you missed it. Is that so selfish?

I wasn’t asking a huge amount for these photos. They were priced inexpensively. If I had sold five I would have broken even on the costs. I think many people have no idea of the work that goes into a single image. Even had these been digital images, the work would have been substantial. They are not, of course, so we are talking days of labor to get the picture right and that is before matting, framing, the overall cost for the exhibit opening…I guess I am taking page from Robert Fripp’s advice to artists–work for free–an expensive venture.

My list for today is as long as my arm and I must get it all done.

–JDCM

Temperate climate change…

By John on September 17, 2015 in 120 film, 35 mm photography, autumn, beauty, biking, craft, Cyclades stone walls, Cycladic stone walls, Greece, John D.C. Masters, John Masters, mountain biking in Greece, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, stone walls, working

There are only a few days left until the Autumnal Equinox and it feels like it here on Paros. The crushing summer heat has fled, and in its wake the days have become clear and sunny, with cooler breezes. The tourist crowds have thinned considerably and our island is slowly being returned to us. There is nothing quite so lovely as the change of seasons.

So much has happened in the past 4 months. After my father died things changed. A re-assessment of my life, goals, raison d’etre…Once again I am looking into what makes me ‘happy’. Life, for me at least, is no longer about hitting myself with a hammer while thinking that the next blow wouldn’t hurt. Time to stop doing what I do not like, when at all possible.

I am also moving house. I have everything boxed up and ready to go save for my clothes, some small amount of kitchen stuff and what art is hanging on my walls. I move at the end of October and assume all of my own bills and rent. That will be a relief and a freedom I have missed.

boxed up and almost ready to go…

Here are some still lives from a friend’s back terrace…

Blue Vase, 2015

Ladder and Anchor, 2015

My header image is from a short bike trip I took to Antiparos recently. It is a reminder of two of the things I love to do and have been neglecting the past few months. It is also a reminder that William Henry Jackson may have had his mules but I have my mountain bike.

Yashica and Bike, Andiparos, September 2015

That’s it.

–JDCM

← Previous 1 2 3 … 8 Next →