Archive | spring in the Aegean

News from the sick bay…

By John on February 14, 2013 in beauty, craft, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, rangefinder camera, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, working

The rains have come in to stay, or so it seems. It is winter in the Aegean and it is damp and cold, the kind of damp that seeps into one’s bones and begs for all to just stay in bed. There have been a couple of days of sunshine, but other than that it has rained, drizzled, poured down and showered.

Last Sunday evening I was sitting in my apartment reading when suddenly it felt as if all the energy had drained from my body and mind. I was ill, I knew it. I managed to stay awake for another hour or so but then I was in bed and out like a light. The next morning I woke up as sick as one could be. My lungs were full of crud, as were my sinuses, swollen glands, etc…I took the advice of friends and went to the doctor who gave me a prescription for antibiotics, expectorant, throat gargle and high strength ibuprofen. As the days have progressed I have improved but I feel I am not out of the woods yet. Three more days of pills and I should be, well…right as rain. Over the days friends have brought me food. Chicken soup from one, a fish stew from another. Today I was given some onions and carrots so I could make lentil soup. These are some of the finest people I have ever known.

On another note, my quarantine has given me the chance to photograph my immediate surroundings from the viewpoint of the small balconies on either side of my flat and out my kitchen window. They have an abstract quality that perhaps I would like to paint also; geometric shapes of varying hues of tan to white, blue expanses broken my myriad antennae. I’ll post some images next week.

So it is movies, books, soups, plenty of fluids and lots of bed rest for me. I have been reading Joseph Campbell and Edward Weston; James Bond and Harry Potter–comfort foods for the mind, body and soul. The weather is supposed to improve by Monday and then John and I can get back to work building benches and so forth.

JDCM

Guidance, delineation and communication…

By John on February 8, 2013 in beauty, craft, Cyclades stone walls, Greece, Paroikia, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

It began with lamp posts in 2005. There was a quayside in Ermioni, a boat on dry dock and an ornate iron lamp post looking out over the still water at sunset. Then there were more lamp posts in Bosnia, arcing around the gentle curve of a mountain road, leading to where…?

Now there are stone walls climbing and moving across the landscape of the Kyklades. They have been accompanied by electrical poles, maybe telephone lines, I am not sure…

I have been photographing them for the past few years, mixed in with all the rest. Driving back from an area here on Paros the other day I was struck by how these all are indications of the hand of man in an otherwise wild landscape. I have a choice. I can bemoan the state of affairs regarding these structures or embrace them as something more, strong vertical and horizontal lines, shadows of human needs. I have thought of lamp posts as bringers of light in the darkness, guidance along dim roads. The stone walls define our boundaries, of both self and property, for they are often too insignificant to keep any creature at bay. The poles signify communication over distances. Guidance, delineation and communication. I would post some examples, but I feel that everyone has an idea of what I am speaking of without the illustrations.

It is raining here. Last night the deluge dropped a hail of roaring ice in Paroikia. It woke me at 4AM. It also deposited all the red, sandy dust that has been blowing from the south, out of the deserts of North Africa. This is the scirocco. The air was clear this morning and as I drove south to visit some friends for coffee I marveled at the archipelago surrounding me: Sifnos, Serifos, Sikonos, Ios, Kimolos, Syros, Tinos, Andiparos…rugged walls ran through green hills, telephone lines stretched thinly into the blue distance and, even though the sun was bright, my heart was gladdened to see the occasional unlit streetlight along my path. If I came this way on a dark and stormy night I would not become lost in the tempest.

JDCM

Parian viewpoint…

By John on January 29, 2013 in craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

I returned to Greece last Friday and after a long and uneventful journey I found myself at the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport, the gateway to Greece. It was quiet at 16:40 hours on a Saturday. Aside from my Aegean Air flight, there was only one other craft that seemed to be in use, a KLM A320 parked at the terminal. This speaks to both the slower winter season and the decision for other airline companies to curtail their schedules into this country, a nation hit hard by both the global economic crisis and a media-fed-fear of governmental instability. While the economics are true, the other claim holds no water. This is a land of change and transition and so many people are preferring to sit on the sidelines and watch the drama unfold.

It was raining and the skies were lead-grey. I hailed a taxi and as we headed towards the city I was struck by how green everything had become since my departure in December. The traditional music coming out of the small radio made my heart melt and run like the rain. As we sped along the motorway, the driver handed me an orange. “From my garden–this morning”, he said.

Change is a difficult stage of life for any organism, whether it is a country or an individual. The best course of action is to change the dynamic. When an old path isn’t working, one does not stay on the same road and travel with more verve. One takes a turn at the next crossing, thus expanding the journey. If one has a philosophy that is dear, it is important to keep this philosophy as a compass and at the same time open up prospects for new and exciting ways to implement the fundamentals. 12 years ago I grew weary of the career in which I had been laboring. Instead of finding a new niche within that limited community I shifted gears and turned off the main road and connected with a new highway. Now I am in Greece, practicing my skills and craft in photography. The remnants of the old ways are gone, leaving only memories and an ability to create this marvelous dish. I can only offer advice based on my own experiences. When something isn’t working, get out of the way and take a new road. After all, change is the only true constant in the Universe. Photography is the same. There are so many variables within the craft, especially with the added tools of the digital medium. It would be foolish and arrogant to discount them in an attempt to hold onto some mythological idea.

Speaking of that, I had a change of heart recently regarding the noted photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. When he said, “In order to give meaning to the world, one has to feel oneself involved in what he frames. This attitude requires concentration, a discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry” I have to applaud. I agree wholeheartedly but it was disappointing to watch the documentary, ‘The Impassioned Eye’ . This film revealed that he cared little for, and avoided at all costs, the developing of his film and printing of his images, a part of the journey that I feel is so important to the photographic life. I believe that he was little more than a guy with a camera in the right place at the right time. A small bubble has burst, but a bubble nonetheless. Now I am a little more free than I was. Change is good and necessary. Change is essential.

A view of Agios Phokas, Paros.

More New Year’s ramblings…

By John on January 3, 2013 in beauty, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

Leica M8, Voigtlander 75mm lens, f/3.4, 1/125 sec, ISO 320

It is bitter cold outside. This morning the thermometer read -6F. The sun is out and the snow is all but blinding as I look out the kitchen window at the frozen pond and the string of suet cages hanging in the still morning air. The usual suspects are pecking away, probably using as much energy to fly back and forth from their nests as they are in the eating.

I depart America in about 3 weeks. It has been a good visit so far and I have been reminded by its truncated duration of the decision I made a few months ago: to leave this place. I am only a visitor now. Yes, I have an office where I am typing this post, a bedroom where I sleep, a makeshift darkroom where I can develop film and even make prints if need be. I even have a car. While sitting at the table this morning, watching the birds and drinking my coffee, the thought went through my head that I had better get packing. It is time to go. Time to go home. Time to go back to Paros and the home I am making for myself. Everything is as it should be here, whether I like it or not. I have a few tasks to take care of and my conscience will be clear. Yet I am still in limbo.

And what is next…? I really haven’t a clue. I have some ideas, some concepts of the possibilities, but there is nothing firm, nothing definite in any of them. Photography, painting, hiking…these aspects are in the mix. Teaching? I have no idea nor would I assume. The Camino del Santiago in the autumn? Moving to Athens, enrolling in language school…? Once again, nothing to hang my hat on. The only thing for sure is that that I have some airline tickets booked on certain dates and I have to be there to board the plane or I miss the flight. Whatever happens in between is a crapshoot.

The 17th century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal wrote, “We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end.” I’ll write some more about uncertainty and not knowing later. Hmmm…I just thought of something, something I have been bitter about for a while. Last summer I walked in a conversation and the subject was how sad it was that ‘he’ had not achieved self-actualization by the time ‘he’ was 35…I am just paranoid enough to think that those folks were talking about me. If this is true I can only respond that I find it terribly boring that one would be “actualized” by the time they were 35. What purpose then further growth? I think this ‘actualized’ idea is just another post-modern trap perpetrated to help with the easy pigeon-holing of the human spirit. Kind of like “finding your voice.”

JDCM

By John on December 27, 2012 in beauty, craft, Cyclades stone walls, darkroom work, Greece, nude studies, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spiritual journey, spring in the Aegean, working

A dilapidated hand cart on the Greek island of Milos. Mamiya c330, Kodak Plus-X, June 2012

This is a short post. Some of you have noticed that I have updated my blog. It is more spiffy, easier to change and I am liking the header photo idea. I have been taking some pictures to use specifically for this image. It changes my eye, this is for sure.

I have also spent the last few hours updating my photography site right here . There is link on the right hand side of this page, but this makes it easier. New to the gallery is a portfolio called ‘Kyklades Wall Project’ which is an idea I have bounced back-and-forth with Liz Carson for the past year. It is a medium format study of the stone walls throughout the Kyklades. I still have many islands to photograph, so this is just a beginning. I am hoping to make the best of them into a book someday. There is a reason for these photos, but that is my business. If you search for ‘island hopping’ in my blog you will find more details on these images…

I also cleaned up the b/w image bank. I have separated out the Greek from the American and the European from the Greek. Nice and neat. I have changed the slide show so that the photo captions can now be read and the user gets to move back and forth at will. Overall, I think it represents a more current file of my work to date. ‘Goodbye’ to the Bosnian color pieces and ‘farewell’ to the Roma of the Former Yugoslavia. They were getting me down.

Christmas has passed and 2013 is just around the corner. Then I have three more weeks before I head back to Greece, Paros, The Aegean Center for the Fine Arts, gavros, gigantes, horta and the next round of photographic adventures.

JDCM

A wealth of art on Paros…

By John on August 14, 2012 in beauty, Greece, Paros, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, working

This past week has seen a upswing in the opportunities one may have to view art, or generally just wander around in a daze of artistic influence. Like many people I have my favorites styles of artistic expression and I will try my best to not be a judge of either the art or the experiences of others. True, much of what I saw did not appeal to me so I will focus on what I found to be charming, influential, skillful and expressionistic in a charged and inspiring fashion. That being said I will be sure to give my opinions.

There are as many schools, i.e. ‘types’, of art as there are colors of socks in my sock drawer. I can end a night of gallery openings feeling somewhat dizzy so it is best to wait a few days, let the dust settle and then post a short review. On Friday night there were two openings that I enjoyed. The first was that of my friend and mentor Jun-Pierre Shiozawa and his new collection of India ink paintings titled ‘Sacred/Wild’. I have already written extensively about his work and his Kickstarter efforts to get the show off the ground and flying. I found the hung show to be inspiring, humorous yet also mysterious in the way that dreams are the mysteries of sleep. The show was well attended and is up for a few more days. As a member of the arts community here on Paros Jun-Pierre has been a positive force in an off-island art world that can often times be overly-opinionated and even callous. His work speaks for itself and if you ask him about the current exhibition he is more likely to relate technical details or perhaps unwind his tale initial inspiration for these large monochromatic ink paintings of wild animals, at home in humanity’s domus sancti.

The second show I enjoyed was a very small exhibition of oil paintings by the artist Iokim Mineretzopoulos who has been working in conjunction with Euphrosyne Doxiadis, another Greek artist and art historian here on Paros. The subject is ‘The Adoration of the Lamb’ and it will be combined in the near future with a small book of poems by the poet Rory Brennan and published by the Aegean Center Press. Understanding that these few oil pieces were studies for a larger, more comprehensive work, I was charmed by their simplicity, delicacy and humility. A few pieces reminded me of the the dream-like backgrounds found in Renaissance portraiture. Iokim’s work exudes ‘semnos’, or modesty, a trait that is often difficult to find, or perhaps absent, in the current market-driven art world.

The three other shows that opened this past weekend were, although not to my taste, a plus for the community. I found their abstract expressionistic efforts mostly derivative, often mundane and, in one case, poorly contrived, but that is only this writers opinion. The important aspect is that in two days there was a wealth of art on public display, as it always should. It reminded me of my youth in Provincetown and Wellfleet, going from one gallery opening to the next: truly exciting. For me, the experience was worth it. It allowed me to use my eyes, absorb some color and socialize in a supportive setting. In retrospect, it was a successful weekend for all involved. People had fun seeing, being seen and seeing others. The women were dressed up and everyone had the kind of color one associates with the summer crowd. Even I, bumming about in my cargo shorts and Dr. Who t-shirt, felt at home in these dog-day galleries.

JDCM

Some guests at the opening of ‘Sacred/Wild’ by Jun-Pierre Shiozawa

Some Robert Henri-isms…

By John on July 3, 2012 in 4×5 photography, craft, Greece, nude studies, Paros, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, Uncategorized, working

Here are some quotes from Robert Henri, from his book ‘The Art Spirit’. It has given me great joy and pleasure in the past 24 hours. His words, I feel, are meditations…

“An art student should read, or talk a great deal with those who have read. His conversations with his intimate fellows should be more about his life and less of paint.”

“He should be careful of the influence of those with whom he consorts, and he runs a great risk in becoming a member of a large society, for large bodies tend toward the leveling of individuality to a common consent, the forming of adherence to a creed.”

“An artist who does not use his imagination is a mechanic.”

“All things change according to the state we are in. Nothing is fixed.”

“There is nothing in all the world more beautiful or significant of the laws of the universe than the nude human body. In fact it is not only among the artists but among all people that a greater appreciation and respect for the human body should develop. When we respect the nude we will no longer have any shame about it.”

“The art student of these days is a pioneer. He lives in a decidedly colorless, materialistic age…Sometimes in the past we shot ahead, in certain ways, ahead of where we are now…We have yet as a body to come up to the art of living.”

“If a man has the soul of an artist he needs mastery of all the means of expression so that he may command them, for with his soul in activity he has much to say.”

“It is a splendid thing to live in the environment of great students. To have them about you in person if you can. If not in person, in their works. To live with them. Great students agree and disagree. They stir the waters.”

“If you want to know how to do a thing you must first have a complete desire to do that thing. Then go to kindred spirits–others who have wanted to do that thing–and study their ways and means, learn from their successes and failures and add your quota. Thus you may acquire from the experience of the race. And with this technical knowledge you may go forward, expressing through the play of forms the music that is in you and which is very personal to you.”

“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”

Melancholia atop the Hotel Attalos…

By John on July 1, 2012 in darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, working

I am once again in Athens after a long boat ride from Paros. Tomorrow I fly to Vienna, en route to America and a month in the green, lush Hudson valley and my mother’s home. I was saddened leaving Paros today. I sat at a cafe and said goodbye to a new friend from Paris and as I walked to the port I hugged a fellow student farewell as she opened up the small cafe where she worked. The crowd to get on the Blue Star Paros was large and I waited in the sun for about 15 minutes until we boarded. One of our teachers at the school was boarding another ferry on his way back to Amsterdam and he was being helped by a good friend (to many of us) who, in a few weeks, will be saying goodbye to Paros forever. Her life path has shifted and will no longer include Greece or the Cyclades. I was struck by a melancholic mood as these interactions occurred and as I boarded my ferry I received a text from a friend who had arrived too late to say goodbye in person. We spoke on the phone and it was good to hear his voice. A few minutes later another friend sent me a ‘bon voyage’ text. So some of these ‘farewells’ were from a distance and not face-to-face. It felt as if something was missing. There is no substitute for the real thing.

I have come to an odd point in my journey through Greece. I have many questions and my future on Paros suddenly seems less certain than it did a year ago. There was a time where I needed university credit-that is no longer necessary. It is essential I establish my own existence outside of the Aegean Center if I am to survive happily on that little island. I am a photographer and need to be so with or without the Aegean Center connection. To rely on that resource for too much support (of any kind) would be unfair to them and detrimental to my own sense of self and stunt my intellectual and social growth.

I have made friends and lost friends at the Aegean Center over the past two years. I have made terrible errors of judgement regarding friendships and even recently the possibilities of love. This has had the effect of pushing me further into myself, thus finding an easier path to isolation and solitude. I know this is not always a good place for me to be, but I feel as if I have no choice. If I am to be emotionally secure then I have to be very wary, almost suspicious, of others. As my father has warned me, I can be too naive regarding people. Yes, there are some people I can trust, but more to avoid or at least be careful around.

So I leave Paros with a heavy heart. Few real farewells and only one or two ‘kalotaxidhis’ have left me wondering what my future in Greece will entail. I will work through the year since I have made that commitment to myself and others, but after that it may be time to move along. We shall see…

JDCM

Paros news, part II, and travel ahead…

By John on June 25, 2012 in 4×5 photography, craft, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, rangefinder camera, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, working

Once again I find myself at Mikro Cafe updating this electronic epistle, free to whomever wishes to read it and in doing so, please respond. I arrived after my 12 day island-hop with fifteen rolls of exposed 120 film and I have developed it all. This is important because it means that I may not have to bring my heavy medium format camera to Italy in the fall, which also means no tripod, no film, etc…What a literal load off my shoulders! I can concentrate on digital color and get to know my new Leica M8 during the Italian session. There was an issue in the darkroom, however, dealing with the near-tropical conditions. In short the water coming out of the tap was 24-25C and I need the chemistry to be 20C. The ambient room temperature was also 24-25C which meant that all the metal canisters and film reels were all 24-25C. The upshot is that even if I drop the chemistry temp to 20C the second I put the soup in the can, the temp will rise 2 degrees at least, thus dropping the developing time. This was my solution:

I made the initial film rinse at 16C, thus dropping the can/reel/ temp to 20C. Then I can add the 20C soup and it will at least be stable for a couple of minutes before the ambient room temperature raises the can of soup a degree or so. Now, since I have been under developing my PlusX by N-2 anyway in this darkroom I have to adjust the time again, this time for ambient temperature. For this round of work I dropped the time to N-5 and the effects are very nice indeed: good separation in the shadows, nice highlights that are not overexposed and a balanced contrast. Considering that many of the images were made in the height of the Greek sun (10:00-15:00, or 5800K) I am very pleased with the results.

Paros is much the same. The Watercolor Workshop and the Digital Photography Bootcamp finished and hung a small exhibition last Friday which was lovely. I was impressed by the photographers and enchanted by the watercolorists. Some of the photographers had never worked in this kind of digital dynamic before and their work was terrific: all illustrated an excellent use of negative space, lovely light/shadow, texture and elegant composition in the work. The watercolors were ethereal and splashed with colors, bright and soft. There were some students who had never worked in this medium as well but that wasn’t apparent. This is a testament to both their innate skill and that of their instructor. There are more tourists on the island, but it is not crammed with people. I am sure this is making some business owners nervous about their futures, but the summer hasn’t really arrived and the July and August crowds will write the book on this piece of marble in the blue sea.

I leave Paros for the USA in about a week. I would like to think I will have a relaxing time back in New York but my time will be short and I have much to do, many people to see and commitments to keep. I will be off-island and out of the EU for a month and then return at the very beginning of August. As the plan goes I have about three weeks here and then I am off to visit a friend in England for a couple of days and then head to Italy, Ravenna and finally Pistoia and the Villa Rospigliosi where I meet up with the rest of the school for the Italian Session. I have a lot of work to do for the fall. My portrait project must continue and I need to push that a bit if I am to stay on schedule for the beginning of printing in October. I am thankful for all the work I have done so far and I am a little ahead of schedule in the darkroom, but I must not rest on my laurels. My role as student/intern is unwritten but the future looks bright, at least from this vantage point.

JDCM

Paros homecoming…

By John on June 20, 2012 in craft, Cyclades stone walls, darkroom work, Greece, Paros, quiet islands, silver darkroom, skill and craft, spring in the Aegean, working

As we left Sifnos I waved goodbye to that pretty island and began my short journey home via the Aqua Jewel, a ferry I have come to know very well. The northern wind whipped up the waves and as we sailed due west we were in a beam sea most of the trip. This caused a fair amount of pitch and roll and, although I am not one to get seasick, I kept my eyes on the horizon to keep my inner ear on an even keel. The trip was, as I said, supposed to be a short 3 hours, but it went for an additional 45 minutes due to that weather. As we came into closer sight of Paros, we turned south, the seas calmed and the rolling ceased. The following sea pushed us and as we sailed past The Doors and I felt like I had come home. A friend met me at the port and we caught up with others at Pebbles for a sunset.

This morning I loaded a large pile of laundry into the machine, opened up the doors of my flat, shook the rugs out, swept, mopped and generally re-opened the place after having it closed up for almost two weeks. I then headed to the market and picked up some essential stuff and went out to Drios to pick up the rental car I had lent to my friend Jeanne. It was great to see her and some other folks. When I returned back to Paros I realized that I had accomplished what I needed to do for the day and had little choice but to head to the beach for some swimming and lazing about. Not really, of course. I did a hundred or so crunches and bicycle pumps, swam a few ‘laps’, read a bit (a biography of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius) and then headed back to Paros for a shower and quick nap.

As I write this I am back at Mikro Cafe. Colin has made me a wonderful iced latte and offered me an apricot from a friends garden. “They were falling off the trees, he said…” There is chill music on the stereo, the weather is balmy with a light southern wind and I have plans to be in the darkroom tonight to begin developing the film I shot while I was hopping about the Cyclades.

Ah yes…back home and back to work!

JDCM

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