Traces of antiquity in the Greek landscape

In our joint career as photographers and insatiable travellers, we have both wandered on continents, we have known peoples and cultures and we have photographed places, nature and people.

But we were most moved when, in our travels to the ancient sites of Greece, we discovered our own homeland. Every discovery was a surprise: this was our feeling at the moment we contemplated the singularity of the landscape. The ancient ruins that we saw were not ghosts of the past. They resembled living parts of our history, absolutely integrated into the magical nature surrounding them.

“When you travel in Greece, you will see that the statues belong to the landscape. The stones are there in front of you, too, so that you can touch them and caress them with your hand.” These were the words of George Seferis to Edmund Keeley.

At the same time, this journey through Greece became an internal voyage, with feeling and emotion. We wanted to convey through our photographs the fascination of this place, its myths, its ancient memories and the beauty of the landscape, and to breathe life into these remnants of history. [Maria Fakidi, Dora Minaidi, introductory note]