I suppose the first thing to report would be the horrendous economic situation here in Greece. This is not really news, since the trouble is worldwide and everyone has been watching this little country sink lower and lower into disaster. On the island, however, the situation takes on a different flavor. Much of the protesting in Greece against the austerity measures has been in the transport industries. Trucks, taxis, buses, train and boats all strike periodically. Recently the dock workers and shipping crews have gone on strike, halting almost all boat travel through the Aegean Sea. This cripples a seafaring nation like Greece with its outlying island and archipelagoes. Paros is affected, obviously. The current boat strike began last Monday and was supposed to be lifted today, just shy of a week. Yesterday we received news that the strike had been extended to Wednesday, possibly Thursday. This is bad tidings for a small island dependent on the outside mainland for goods and service. We are lucky to have local farmers selling vegetables and grocery stores that still have some goods, but meat markets are running out of product and I am concerned that petrol stations will run short in the next couple of days, especially if people make a run for fuel. As my father told me, I am at the crux of history, so I shall keep my eyes open, my mouth shut and watch the intersections.
The promotional work I am photographing for a friend is moving along. She only needs three or four pieces for her website, but that still means the same amount of work for me. It is excellent experience and although I do not do this type of work often, I can see how my own aesthetic plays a large part in how I view the event. I suppose everyone brings their own vision to this kind of work. The results will reveal how I view this kind of labor. So far, so good, actually. Perhaps she’ll let me use one of these for the blog as an example.
The darkroom moves along and I hope to expose a roll of MF this afternoon and develop it as well. I am scheduled to be working in there tonight but I have forgotten when I signed up. I think 22:00hrs. I have to print at least one piece from the Villa, maybe two if I am lucky, so I can show them to Liz and see how she wishes me to proceed.
I have picked an odd time to move to Greece. I haven’t looked at any apartments yet, but that will be this week. I have two, maybe three to check out. One is a very humble flat in the middle of Paroikia and the other is a bit more lavish old house, I think, not quite on the outskirts of town. I don’t know the prices for either.
More to come…
JDCM
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