When you knock on someone's door in Crete a smiling face comes into sight saying: "Welcome, have some raki". Offering raki is like an invitation to a more intimate approach and communication among people. Especially people who take part to the production “ritual” of the drink reach high levels of comradeship.

Honours

Andreas Smaragdis, a photographer from Crete, thought he should trap the aforementioned rituals and feelings with his camera. The dreamy pictures he produced enchanted Greeks and foreigners, as they became the cause for him and Greece to be internationally honoured. He used to go back and forth to Crete for four years until his photo shoots were complete, but his labour was totally worth it, since the album "Raki-Cretan spirit" that he published, by Dokimakis publications, won the 3rd world award in Best Spirits Books category at Gourmand World Cookbook Fair exhibition, which took place in Paris.

The importance of the aforementioned distinction is enhanced by the fact that there were 154 countries which took part in the competition with more than 6.000 book titles. A few weeks ago, the presentation of the album took place at the amazing exhibit space "Elaion-loft" at Votanikos of Athens, and it was followed by an impressive photography exhibition

Archaic images

We asked Andreas Smaragdis to describe to us how he photographically approached the issue, and he told us: "I wanted to illustrate the rite of the alembic (cauldron of distillation). The sacrament was proved to be into the people who had gathered around it and not into the cauldron. It was like a music orchestra, which was being directed by an exceptional maestro, the cauldron man. People around the cauldron were not at all apathetic; on the contrary, they were taking part in a ritual which was gradually being escalated. At the beginning, they drank two glasses of wine to liberate their tongue and mind. Once they felt relieved, they were free to show off their real self and start opening their soul. The scenery with the bearded men looked like an ancient tragedy scene, which could hardly be distinguished in the twilight. For the image to be distinct, I amplified the existing light, without getting out of the environment's fundamental colour shades. The light I added was realistic and didn't bother anyone".

The cauldron process is not only fascinating for the eyesight but also for the smell. Apart from the ethereal vapours coming out of the alembic, there are also the smells coming from the "oftes" (roasted) potatoes that the cauldron men are baking in the ember. All these things made Andreas Smaragdis hungry not only for food, but also for more photographing. Every single thing in that place was raising his photographic interest; the wide smiles, the sparkling glasses, the coals, the plates filled with olives and rusks. To him, Crete is an inexhaustible and unrepeatable place, photographically speaking. He left it when he was young and every time he comes back it is as if he's seeing it for the first time.

Long route

Andreas Smaragdis was born at Gonies in Heraklion of Crete. He's been a photography teacher at AKTO College in Athens and founder of the Blow Up school of photography. He also owns a photography and film production company called "Plateau" in Agia Paraskevi of Athens. His work has been presented in 8 solo and 12 group exhibitions. 23 of his photo albums have been published, 7 of them concerning gastronomy, 6 being cultural-historical, 4 about Mount Athos, 3 about travels in Greece, a guide of Thrace, a publication about Romania and another one about Syria.
TEXT: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
PHOTOS: ANDREAS SMARAGDIS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΕΣ ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΕΣ

Andreas Smaragdis.

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