Athens between past and present
Of ruins and new beginings
When I was moving out and selling as much as possible someone came to my apartment to buy my old mattress. On their way out they saw the two photographs I’d printed and mounted on the wall. They asked about buying them and I decided to give them the one of Saratoga beach. The brush of pastels spread across a sunset beach had given colour to an otherwise empty apartment. It was time to move on. Giving away my DIY print was a great ending for something I can no longer retain. The other print, of Yuki at a pagoda in Japan, didn’t seem appropriate to give away and so I threw it out — a symbolic guesture to move out and move on.
I’ve come to Athens on a class trip with ten other students and my studio professor. We are here as tourists but also researchers, seeking to understand the architecture and archeology of the city and islands in the Agean.
On the first day we walked around the the Archaeological Site of Kerameikos. This was the first of many walking days to other ancient ruins including the Roman forum, Hadrians library, Ancient Agora, temple of Zeus and Aristotle’s school. Many of them are ruins with little remaining but help to understand the history of the city. Since we were travelling as an architecture class, our focus was largely on the building ruins and urbanism.
One of the most interesting walks was on the first day when we visited Philopappos Hill across from the acropolis. In the 50s an architect by the name of Dimitris Pikionis oversaw the construction of roads and pathways that transformed the landscape from a visual experience to one that included the tactile roughness of old stones collected from the city. He salvaged marble slabs and reused them as paving stones to make pathways. This got me thinking that I should explore walkscapes in my future architectural research and the ways different ground conditions affect the user experience. The ground and pathways played a small part in the book I self published and my thesis. This is an area I’d like to investigate further.
The path led to a reconstructed church and pavilion. At the time of construction the pavilion had a view of the acropolis but is now blocked by trees. Our professor was of the opinion that the way the pavilion connects views, landscape, and movement all together makes it one of the most important transformative works of modern architecture. I would agree that the pavilion is quite nice and impactful but I don’t know enough of its legacy to understand it’s significance.
As one ascends past the pavilion, various glimpses of the acropolis are visible between trees and bushes. The acropolis is always present and is beautiful. The pathway changed slowly from smooth slabs to rougher flagstones eventually reaching an open plaza and at the top a monument that was once a tomb. This was our first glimpse of the city from above but not the last.
The art of photography has in it emotions of the photographer. The past three years of graduate school have been largely framed as a period of self development and growth accelerated by an abrupt transition from partnered to solitary life. I see a clear personality in the lineage of my photography that I am keen to change. Now that I’m travelling alone I feel that it is appropriate to find a new way of looking at the world. I want to be different and see that in my photography. I want this new chapter to be transformation and evolution.
A year ago, I bought an extra wide camera lens for landscape photography and sold my stock lens that was no longer giving me sharp images. This purchase was a legacy of my previous perspective to frame open landscapes and wide vistas behind a solitary figure.
As this trip approached, I reassessed my desire to obtain a zoom lens thinking that zooming in would be a suitable way to alter my perspective. I couldn’t find a good deal on a used lens and was also busy with school. A week before my departure I was again looking for a specific camera lens and reading online that eBay would be a good place to get second hand lenses. At 2AM I purchased a lens from Japan that would arrive a few days before I left. I was concerned about it arriving late because I would be moving out of my apartment the day I departed. Unfortunately I did not read the listing properly because the lens was an a-mount SAL18135 and my camera needs an e-mount SEL18135. I didn’t expect a lens would be made with different mounts so I got the wrong lens.
During our time in Athens we also visited many museums including the acropolis museum, museum of contemporary art, and archeology museum. The acropolis museum was the most interesting because it was the first thing we did in Athens and the building was very modern. It had fragments of the acropolis arranged along an interior core the same size and dimension as the pantheon. Chunks of the ruin had been placed to give a semblance of the real thing up on the hill. As an introduction to the archeology we would see in the next few days, it was an excellent appetizer. Below the museum was an excavated neighbourhood.
The museum of contemporary art was interesting because there were provocative works that spoke to geopolitical issues, pain, and suffering. We we fortunate to have a guided tour by a curator and access to the roof that is normally closed to the public. This was a unique view of the city because there aren’t many buildings taller than theirs from which to see the rest of the city. It was also relatively close to the acropolis which has protected views.
While it can be difficult to imagine a world based on foundation ruins, it helped to hear stories and read history. The acropolis was as highlight well worth the early morning visit. Arriving at opening avoided the crowds and was under a softer sun that wasn’t as draining in terms of heat. The ruins were impressive because they are clearly visible from the city but up close the scale became larger than expected. In the past it would have been possible to walk within the ruins but that has been closed off and some kind of reconstruction work was underway.
The visit to the acropolis was complemented by a reading from the professor that I reread while sitting on a piece of marble at the acropolis. The reading described the entrance sequence and the arrangement of buildings forming an asymmetrical aesthetic perspective. After reading the article I was able to walk the space and assess it for myself. It is not entirely visible today because a large statue is missing and the pedestrian pathway was altered with a horrible slab of concrete but it is otherwise accurate and interesting.
For the modern urbansim, we visited the an urban park along the port coast that was made for the 2004 Athens Olympics by destroying an industrial area and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center by architect Renzo Piano which was a fantastic example of an urban park on a slope. Unforutnately the library was closed but the upper lighthouse lookout was open and was an interesting moment to see the port as well as the park.
Athens is a wonderful city. I’ve been continuously impressed by the kindness, generosity, and politeness of the people. Twice we went to restaurants where we unknowingly ordered the wrong thing and twice we were offered food on the house to compensate. The people have been patient and kind- an unexpected delight. As well, the platting has been fantastic and the food delicious. Many of our meals came with a shot or dessert to finish off. We’ve also eatten a lot of soulvaki and gelato. It feel like we didn’t go a day without a stop for gelato.
Two other very enjoyable moments were the climbing of Lycabettus hill and Lofos Strefi. The first is one of the most prestigeous hills that make up ancient Athens and is a fantastic lookout. We had some trouble as a group collecting at the bottom because we all came from different places and some were late so it was a scramble up the hill in time for sunset. The rush was worthwhile though because the view was beautiful. The path zigzags up to a restaurant and crowded lookout. Right below on the path though was a pleasant spot to take photos and watch the night creep over the city. I struggled to capture photos with the wide angle camera lens but enjoyed catching up with a friend as the sun set and the cityscape illuminated. Unfortunately we were not able to stay as long as we would have liked because the rest of our party was waiting for us for dinner.
Some days later I was on my own and went up Lofos Strefi which I suspect is an old marble quarry. This is another nearby hill that’s not as high. The view was interesting because I could see the acropolis and to my left was Lycabettus. On an overcast evening where the rain sprinkled, I enjoyed a moment of solitude to listen to music emanating from the trees below. For the time, I enjoyed being alone on the hill above a city of millions. I would later discover it to be a musician in a restaurant hidden behind a rock cropping and under a large tree.
I’ve struggled on this trip to frame my pictures. Part of the reason is that I’m not enjoying the super wide aspect of the 10–18mm lens I have. It is so wide that it visibly distorts the images requiring a lot of post cropping and because of that it looks artificial. It is also the conditions cities are not panoramic landscapes and a tighter crop is more desirable. On the other hand, it could be that these struggles are a reflection of the internal turmoil to perceive the world differently and to be different. Photography in some ways is confirming some of my personal turmoil.
While the cameras has been troublesome, the iPhone remains a dependable with a regular field of view and suitable perspective. It’s easy to use, light, quick to access and always with me. It doesn’t come as a surprise that most people are phone wielding tourists and dslrs are fewer and fewer. Some days I wonder if I should just leave my camera at home. For the blog and Instagram the iPhone is sufficient but I’m always hoping for a special moment that would be worthy of a large print.
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