“The spruce we burned in the fireplace gave out sparks. That's why we carpeted our wintry room with “saismata” (thick cloths made of goat fur) -they don't catch fire if a spark falls on them. The grandparents slept on a high mattress in the corner of the room and on low mattresses on the floor next to them were the beds of the grandchildren. The married couple would sleep in the bedroom with the baby. When it grew up it moved to the winter room, so that the next baby would take its place next to its parents”.

"We used to stay at home all the time, we didn't know any cafés or other places to go out to. We've only finished primary school, but we often talk to well-educated people at work. We learned to cook from our grandmothers and mothers. Important people come here to eat. A convention took place in our village a few years ago and we made a buffet for about a thousand persons. We used to be 130 of us women in the association, but only eight of us remain".

Director Dimos Avdeliodis, creator of unique movies about life in the mastic villages of Chios, amongst which “The tree we used to hurt” is a sensitive and modest artist. He believes that the beauty of his homeland is not only hidden in images and photographs, but in the relationship between people and nature as well.

"My name is Chris Zampouras, but people here in Plastiras Lake know me as Zampetas. I decided to live here when I saw an advertising leaflet with pictures of the lake. I started a farm with horses, cows, semi-wild bunnies, sheep and other animals. I have Thessalian horses, which is the best race after the Arabian horses".

"I have been carving wood ever since I was a boy. What designs do I make? Whatever crosses my mind. At first I used to make ladles and canes, but then I was often asked to make more ashtrays and troughs. At night I think about what I am going to make in the morning. My wife wants me to stop, but I work because I want to be able to offer my grandchildren potato chips every day. I work on Sundays, even if I earn nothing. It helps the time pass; I don't even understand when the morning or the evening comes".

"Mussels are sensitive to temperature change. The heat kills them and the cold delays their growth. The 'kokoretsia' (the rope where the mussels are grown) must reach the bottom of the seabed, so that crabs can go up and eat the spawn that covers the mussels and clean them. Crabs weigh over 400 grams and have claws that can cut a whole fish in the middle".

Around 1865-70 Fotis Mastoridis, a seaman from Symi aboard an English ship, saw how shipwrecks are pulled up from the bottom of the sea at the Cape of Good Hope. A diving machine used supplied air to the diving suit via a rubber tube. The machine was operated by two people, who rotated an iron wheel connected to a pneumatic drill. That was when the Greek seaman came up with the idea to use this machine to collect the sponges around the Island of Symi.

"Being a shepherd means no feasts and holidays, that's why young boys can't stand it. It is financially rewarding, but it is very binding. My son is a linguist in Serres and my daughter an accountant in Thessaloniki, there is no way they would ever consider continuing my work. The herd will exist only as long as I do".

“Every morning Mr. Stavros used to come to our shop around the time when we were cutting the delight on the pans. He used to take the remains from the edges and put them into buns he'd bought from the bakery in order to sell them to the factory workers. Mr. Stavros kept the rolls hot inside a little transparent, glass chest and a drawer filled with burning coal”.

“I’ve been photographing people visiting the island for 44 years. Back in the old days no more than 10 tourists per day came from Rhodes to Symi. The last couple of years, however, thousands of them come to visit. They stay for an hour and they leave again by boat. I hurry up to have them photographed as soon as they reach the harbour and instantly print the photos. I place the photos on benches for them to see as they leave and buy them as souvenirs. I also get some help from my son Michalis, who is a photography school graduate. Since he was 8, he has been hanging pictures on tenters with me”.

"I once used to work as an engineer in a trader braccera of 150 tones. It was called "Saint Spyridon" and belonged to Dimitris Mpinotsis. It had a Greek "Axel" engine with power of 120 hp and we used to route Rhodes - Symi - Piraeus with eight miles per hour. It was a real wooden sea boat, thirty metres long".

"Like all men don't wear the same size of clothes, animals need different kinds of saddles as well. In the previous years, animals used to get sweat and hurt by heavy loads. The animals experienced poverty just like people did. People couldn't get enough of food, how were they supposed to feed their animals? Few people used to feed them, the rest of them just left them in their fate, wandering in the mountains looking for food".

"At first I used cowhide (red and black leather) to make strong shoes for mule riders. They had nails in the soles so as not to be worn out too quickly. Then I used to make sewn shoes as well, which were fashionable for grooms. Nowadays there are still some aficionados who insist in ordering sewn shoes. They seem to like them and pay good sums of money for them. In the last few years though, I was hardly making by with my job, as the price of leather shot up because of the appearance of industrial shoes. From 30 drachmas per kilo it reached 15 euros and counting".

“I met a girl walking near the lagoon and asked her to go on a boat ride on my gaita (small boat with a sail). We didn't have motors back then, only the sail and the “floko” (a smaller sail at the front of the boat). A light northwestern wind was blowing and she sat on the stern and started singing with her beautiful voice. “On the magical sand a woman embraced with her beloved fisherman. He's drunk with joy, both of them are, in the scarlet sunset...” she sang.

"Why do you take pictures all the time, what is it that you like here? Do you like the mountains? Do you think that you'll never find these stones anywhere else? Why are you in a hurry, do you fear the wilderness? At least here if you shout, people on two mountains will hear you; in Athens nobody will hear you shouting if something happens to you".