I wonder what the life of a photography professor is like. How do you describe your life?
All our lives include roughly the same deep anxieties and consist of a few happy moments, many more unhappy ones, and far too many tedious ones. Because my work as a teacher and my involvement with art were my choices, I have managed to completely eliminate the tedious moments. That's no small feat.
Could your life be depicted in a photograph? What would it depict?
Life is much more complex than all the photographs combined.
What do you consider significant milestones in your journey so far?
I would point out the two serious decisions I made, which initially had a practical and then a substantial impact on my life. The first was when in 1983, after twelve years of practicing the profession, I decided to leave law, and the second was when in 2000 I decided to settle permanently in Syros.
How did you find yourself in Syros in 2001?
There are several reasons, but the decision was spontaneous and arbitrary. First, my wife loves nature a lot. Life in Athens was suffocating her. Second, Syros had been my favorite destination since my youth. Third, I don't like vacations, that tragic summer month where everyone desperately tries to entertain themselves attempting to revenge the eleven months of work. I wanted not to have a reason to take a break from something I love. Fourth, I didn't want to have an Athenian house and dream of a vacation home. So we made this house, in Syros, our primary residence. The fact that I am Catholic and that I had two grandmothers from Syros didn't count. Or at least it didn't count consciously. The frequent transportation to Athens, the existence of a hospital, and the island's winter liveliness weighed more heavily. The house was ready in 2001.
What were your first discoveries on the island?
I didn't discover anything because I had known the island for years. However, I believe that the only truly unique place in Greece compared to the rest of the world is the Cyclades, that every Cycladic island is different, and that Syros has the greatest variety (in ways of life, architecture, nature, people, religions, etc.) in the smallest possible space. So, it's an ideal place for permanent residence, at least in Greece.
Which parts of the island do you particularly love?
My house, which is on top of a hill facing south towards Paros and Naxos and north towards Ermoupoli and Tinos, and is hit by all the winds. And Ermoupoli.
You spend half of the week on the island. What is your daily routine like?
I leave on Tuesday afternoon and return on Friday morning. And I have been doing this without a problem for 15 years. In Athens, I teach private classes at the Benaki Museum every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon and make contacts and work in the mornings. In Syros, I work (with a computer and internet), read, watch movies, and sometimes teach weekend seminars on some weekends. Now, due to the crisis, I am forced to teach in other cities one weekend a month. This is pleasant due to the change of scenery, but on the other hand, it deprives me of my home.
Is it easy to live outside Athens?
It's not easy to live within Athens.
Will you tell us about "the house of seminars"?
My dream was to integrate this job I chose and therefore don't consider a job in the bad sense into my everyday life. So, we built our house (designed and supervised by my wife Nana Karamangioli) aiming to live with my students. That's why it is much larger than our personal needs would dictate. And that's why we started with a large 120 sq.m. room for screenings and lectures, equipped with the best possible machines. I conduct two to three photography seminars in the summer (two ten-day and one three-day) and five to six winter "weekend" three-day seminars with cinematographic content. I didn't expect to attract a Syros audience, as didn't happen. After all, no one is a prophet in their own land, and this proves that Syros became my place. However, I hoped to persuade more Athenians to come in the winter. It seems, however, that the fear of being stranded, the weather reports, and lately the economic crisis scare them. Over the years, a relatively limited number of students have come, but they have fallen in love with the island and have come countless times. Some more than 100 times. Many have made Syros their vacation island, and some have bought or built homes.
What are your plans for the coming months and the summer?
Nothing new. I wish to have the health and financial resilience to continue what I already do. My dream would be to manage to teach only in Syros (or from Syros) and not to have to constantly move, something that logically I won't be able to do anyway due to age for many years. I have started working on the idea of online courses. I should have (but perhaps now I no longer have the luxury of time) engaged in attracting a foreign audience since I can teach both in French and English. Given the above, I would like to point out that Syros should not focus its tourist goals only on the two summer months but develop a higher level of tourism that concerns the other ten months, so the island can become a center for conducting seminars, conferences, and artistic events for small groups of more demanding Greeks and foreigners who do not love the impersonal huge hotels and who have no reason to escape from a metropolis to go to another. However, this requires an improvement of services without increasing the sizes.
What can you find in Syros that you can't have in Athens?
Less noise. The eye roams the horizon unobstructed. People are calmer and therefore more polite.
Where in Syros should I definitely take a souvenir photo?
Souvenir photos are related to ourselves and our life, not the environment. So, take them where the place or the people intersect with you.