Tag: Professions

Artemis Hatzigiannaki is a talented notary with a talent in painting, who evolved into a remarkable painter. Her favorite themes are Smyrna and Athens, which she represents with a unique sensitivity and originality.

"When my daughter got A in primary school I gave her a Cocker Spaniel as a reward. That was when my great love for animals was born. After a while I bought German Shepheard’s, Rottweilers, Labradors, Yorkshires, cats, hens, doves, gooses, peacocks. I also bought an estate so that they would have enough space to live”.

In Nicosia, Cyprus there is a traditional patisserie next to the fortification sacks and barrels that separate the free from the occupied part of the city. Its owner is Thodoris Disios, from the Greek village Kria Vrisi in Giannitsa.

“When I was in primary school, I saw a neighbor training pigeons. He called them divers, because they used to fly very high and dive downwards. I liked the show and the buzz they made as they were heading down. A moment before they reached the pigeon house they opened their wings and slowed down. Some didn’t make it and got killed on the paved road”.

George Apostolakis makes a reed musical instrument, called the ney, in his workshop in Ritsona, close to Halkida. The ney produces a warm and hoarse sound. It has its roots in the Near East and gives Greek traditional music a special quality. 

"How stupid can those who govern us be? They've ruined this country. It pains me to say it but unfortunately that's the truth. We are importing most of our products from other countries, while the local produce remains unsold. Even in Loutro of Sfakia, a very small village only accessible by boat, imports its honey from Argentina".

Eighty six years have passed since the Greek daily newspaper "Evening Post" was first released in Constantinople. Along with the Turkish Cumhuriyet, they are both Turkey's oldest newspapers. The Evening Post used to sell 30,000 papers, which was more than the Turkish newspapers used to sell, as the Greeks were numerous and they used to read a lot, due to their high educational level. Nowadays it sells 600 papers, 90% of which are being sold in Constantinople and the rest of them in Greece. As the number of the Greek-speaking families in Constantinople is equal to the Evening Post's circulation, this newspaper could be easily included in the Guinness Book, since it's being read by the 99,9% of its potential readers.

Costis Fountoulakis started learning the art of saddling a horse near Georgis Tsachakis in Saint Galin, who had 5-6 employees back then. But during the German Occupation, when the Englishmen started bombing the Germans at the port, his mother was afraid that her boys would be killed and took them to Apodoulou village, in the inland of the region Amari, in order to save them. That is where saddler Nicholas Rizikianos had his shop, and Costis Fountoulakis immediately started to work there as an intern.

Manolis Rasoulis used to travel a lot to explore the world and write music. We are close friends and fellow travellers in some journeys and found out we have a common artisitc purpose. He had his pen and I had my camera to express the world and people's lives. We met for the last time a few days before he died, when he was reciting a prologue during a music event for Manos Hadjidakis at the haunt of "Ianos" bookshop. "When one loses limits one must take measures" he said among other things to the audience, referring to the economic crisis that's plaguing our country.

"I have written fifteen books and four more containing articles I wrote and were published in newspapers. I don't try to publish all of them because I couldn't sell more than twenty or thirty. I am satisfied with giving a photocopy to my children and some friends".

"I don't fear the sea at all and the possibility of me drowning never crosses my mind. Whenever I can't see the sea, even from afar, I feel afraid and think I'm dying. I was once taken to Panagia Sumela church inMacedoniaa and I hardly managed not to go crazy in the mountains. I suppose that Holy Mary saved me".

"My father is passionate about mountains and snow. Since I was a forty day-old baby he used to carry me on his shoulders and take me to the highest tops of the mountains. My mother didn't agree with that, but she had patience, she couldn't do otherwise. So I have the same passion. Even my wife was tested before I married her, she had to love the snow and learn how to ski".

"I studied economics and my dream was to work with agricultural associations, but I ended up being an accountant in a plumbing association. I didn't like this job, I didn't like Athens either, and I was always looking for a chance to leave. I couldn't feel free in this city, I couldn't assimilate the images and the messages, and I was totally lost. When I became 28 years old I realised that I had been walking the wrong way and decided to reset my odometer. I was done with education and I was done with the jobs that didn't offer any meaning to my life".

"Was it not for the protection of our trade unions, we would have surely died. Our job has nothing to do with being a civil servant. We dislike unions, like ADEDY, which opened their doors to the corrupt political parties and allowed them to destroy the labor movement".

"I dig with a pickaxe and make a cave in which I keep my wines. Among other elements, Santorini's soil contains pumice stone. The pickaxe I use is slightly different than the standard ones; it was specially made by a Roma blacksmith. The island's caves remained intact after the catastrophic earthquake of 1956; they're safe and cool. The day before yesterday the temperature in my concrete garage was 29 degrees Celsius while in the cave it was only 19".

"What do I think when I shepherd my goats? I think of wolves and the possibility of them eating my goats, and wonder where I might find a shady place to rest, what else? Last year the wolves ate eight of my goats and a dog. Once I saw the goats jumping around in fear. The wolf had bitten one of them on the neck and was getting ready to eat it, but the dogs intervened and saved it. Another time, I was lying under a fence when I heard a noise. I stood up and saw a wolf standing frozen in its spot. I was scared to death and by the looks of it so was the wolf. I yelled loudly and it ran off, but then it circled to the back of the herd to eat the animals. They always do that; they are smart".

"My father produced 80-100 tons of wine per year until 1974 and it was all sold to the French. We used to call it "mourouka" and they called it Bordeaux. We used to carry the wine on 100-200 animals loaded with four goat sacks each. We took them to Fira coast, where we poured the wine into barrels. Afterwards, we used to wash the sacks with sea water in order to protect the leather".

"I leave the keys on the door so that my friends can get in. I don't care if a stranger gets into the winery and takes one or two kilos of wine. I liberated myself from this stress; I don't even need a dog to protect me. I once had one who used to bark and scare people; that's why I gave him to a friend".

"Since I was a child, olive trees used to remind me of ancient crowns. It was a long time untyil 2004, when on the occasion of the Olympic Games, the Academy of Athens asked me to make two wedding wreaths out of olive branches. They wanted to expose them in the "In Praise of the Olive" exhibition which connected the olive tree to birth, marriage and death".

"A man once came to rent our store and told us: I'm going to make it into a café, it will be modern, I'll even put some marble. I'm going to rent it for two million drachmas. But we didn't accept. We have owned the store since 1947 and we are emotionally attached to it. Besides, if we left it what would we do to pass the time?"