Lesvos imprints

It is serious to be unfaithful to oneself...

2012-02-24T11:56:00.000+02:00

When I am away, the rather short intervals between there or somewhere else, the values of my life come upon me. I bring them down myself, of course. What always stays with me is the missing of Lesvos and those who say it is OK to call them my friends. Vitality and good energies come along and rain or gusty winds in the Winter is soon forgotten. Torsten, do not and hopefully never again, fail from being where your heart is....

THE UTMOST OF POSITIVE ENERGIES

ALWAYS A SMILE FOR YOU

TIRED FROM WORK BUT ALWAYS PRESENT

FILLING YOUR YEARS WITH LIFE AND NOT YOUR LIFE WITH YEARS

MARCH GREEN

ALWAYS WAKES UP THE BEST IN ME

PEOPLE WHO CARE

SILENT ROADS ALWAYS LEAD SOMEWHERE

BEST PERSON TO MEET IN THE MORNING

BRINGS ME TO PLACES I CHOOSE

Insisting on tomorrow...

2012-02-17T11:30:00.000+02:00

I feel a bit gloomy. Like the weather. Good to stay there, to wait for a Figure to come up and show what it is all about. Looking into prospects of a more smiling tomorrow though, over barren grounds and another exciting side of the island. Friend Rolf looking for new angles of excitement from Ipsilou Monastery, while I am looking at contraries of a fresh flower and a tired boat that has stopped sliding on the waves...

INCREDIBLE SIGRILAND

A FRIEND'S LOOKOUT

SHINING

DAYS ARE GONE BUT I AM STILL PRETTY

Touching Spring and the new light....

2012-02-16T10:02:00.000+02:00

Coming out of hybernation, hopefully means new light and touches of a another time ahead of me. February still hanging in there, but I can see the light in the end of the tunnel....

VERY EARLY MORNING LIGHT OF FAMILIAR VIEW

STILL QUIET

NOT JUST BEETHOVEN WROTE A PASTORAL SYMPHONY

What I can do, in times of crisis....

2012-02-15T02:00:00.000+02:00

I often think about the imprints I have taken in on the island, as well as in other parts of Greece! They are actually very often the results of gifts of friendship. Happy reminders are good to use, especially in times of crisis. Like now.

Simply two of thousands upon thousands of good moments. This one is with long time friend Kostas Katsarós, during the victory soccer party in Vafiós, a few years ago. And a second, with proud me at Taverna Alonia with friends.

There is for sure something I can do to help out. The best things seems to ask my friends. It is time for listening....

Soon this will be changed...

2012-02-14T02:20:00.000+02:00

I am missing Spring badly. I am totally fascinated by the skies and the sea in so many variations with incredible sensations of light, when Winter is upon us. But right Here and Now, I need the light of Spring and signs of new times to come...,

Hybernating in February...

2012-02-09T13:06:00.000+02:00

I do not know or understand why I usually always get sick in February...probably because I simply do not like this month and that Winter has been going on for such a long time and looking out, does not look very promising right now. So, I am hybernating in a way. Even Lesvos can be a misery, like strong winds, a bit rainy and rather low temperatures. But, I say to myself, at this very absolute moment, that beloved Lesvos by far is something I rather prefer to be in, than dark northern winter days. Looked through the imprints from last February and a bit earlier...

ZOOMING FROM THE HARBOR

QUIET ALLEYS

PSIRIARA

Waiting for the heart to thaw...

2012-02-06T19:41:00.000+02:00

I feel I have never missed the island as much as now. There are Winters and there are Winters. This one I can always face, with food and wine at the local taverna and blossoming trees, so spending a lot of time right now looking at pictures...

WINTER FOOD, HOT AND WARMING...

GREEN LIKE SPRING, BUT STILL WINTER ON LESVOS

ONE OF THOSE GOOD WINTER DAYS

Only weeks ago...

2012-02-02T22:01:00.000+02:00

Dying for light and colors when cold and frozen pipes are daily matters. This was just a few weeks ago. I remember it and I think of it every day and I know it will come back again, to me and everyone...

WAITING FOR THE OWNER

MIXED COLORS

JUST KNOCK ON THE DOOR

CAN NEVER SEE ENOUGH OF IT

SO RELAXED HE IS

Same places, new images...

2012-01-31T14:05:00.000+02:00

Always new views to watch. Walking with a pro photographer is always bringing in new ways to look at familiar things on the island, but with fresh and new eyes...

Walking to the angel...

2012-01-30T18:29:00.001+02:00

The island often reminds me of those days, when visited by a cancer, I had to go somewhere and talk to make a choice and I am close to the steps I took, to at least go and have a chat with the angel of angels. It was a long and wonderful walk on paths through the rising hills and valleys and roads and the island showed it's stunning beauty, consoling a worried mind...

AT THE CRACK OF DAWN

HAZY LIGHT IN THE VALLEY

THE BELLS WERE RINGING

FRIENDS ON THE ROAD

STILL HAZY AND MAJESTIC

ANOTHER LONER BUT MIGHTY PROUD

LOVE IN A BRIEF CONTEXT

REWARDS

TAXIARXIS, MIRACLE MAN

Waiting and signs of Spring passing by...

2012-01-27T12:16:00.000+02:00

Waiting for fish to catch. World problems to be solved. While signs of Spring is heavily pouring by. It is like all is hibernating. Frozen souls waiting for the sun to come and warm me and everyone else...

From the Lesvos light that I need so much...

2012-01-25T12:21:00.000+02:00

...and presumably others as well. I had a special lense that day, when I was involved with the proud team of Molyvos. I could use the lens to focus advantages in the light we had, and I walk up the hill to the house several times each time of the day, in the morning, noon and starlit nights, with the Venetian fortress, to Castro, in focus. This touches me all the time, quietly watching over us and especially on this day in the beginning of December, when the sun and the leaves of the trees were still dancing a touching dance with beautiful costumes in green and yellowish lemon. "You are a romantic person, Torsten", I said to myself and perhaps yes and perhaps no, and why not in this secular world, and because it was like this. And I look forward to the new light coming, for me and for everyone...

FROM THE FOOTBALL FIELD AND UP, 300mm LENS

I need a repaint and the sooner the better...

2012-01-24T12:30:00.000+02:00

Not just boats need a repaint. I feel I do not cope with darkness and lack of light, wherever it is. This boat "cradle" is just waiting for new boats to paint and smell of new times to come and the island is resting for a while...

CRADLE IN A VILLAGE HARBOR

A PAINTER'S PALETTE...

Leaving the weekend behind, meeting a new and this will always remain...

2012-01-23T10:36:00.001+02:00

I have always thought this church, in the village of Vafiós, to carry a piety that I cannot just pass by. Friends have got married here. I take a seat on the empty bench aginst the sun lit wall, wondering what this next week will bring...

DIVINE SIMPLICITY

LIKE THE BLUE AND GREEN OF THE SEAS

PEACE OF MIND AGAINST THE WALL

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A FIVE TO TWELVE

More from also beloved Vafiós...

2012-01-21T13:16:00.000+02:00

New corners to turn, new views and the same silence from the slopes surrounding...

TO LIVE ON THE SLOPES

SUMMER THIRST KILLER

CHIMNEY AND SMOKE WITNESSING OF LIFE

TO APPROACH IT, MAKES IMPRINTS

SOON KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

LE CHATEU DE SPANOU KATSAROS

Another wonderful neighbor, a bit higher up...

2012-01-20T12:43:00.000+02:00

A very quiet neighbor, but colorful and friendly, alleys to discover and new corners everwhere. Vafiós, a whitepainted village on the slopes of the mountain. A place I always go back to, like the other day, when looking for tranquility....

Light when I came and a bit of Winter when I will be off for a while...

2012-01-19T05:26:00.000+02:00

These incredible gifts of light over the sea. The mountains in powder snow suit, like to the tiles of roofs and ice on the sides of a murky pool. I know I will be back soon to the island of islands....

More from beloved Petra...

2012-01-18T14:28:00.000+02:00

I found so many pictures inside of me that I wanted to look at them like this....

CARRY YOUR BRIDE UP THE MANY STAIRS TO THE TOP OF THE PETRA!

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN IN THE SUMMER

THEY DID NOT MIND THE CAMERA WHEN I ASKED

IN THE MOST FAMOUS CORNER OF THE VILLAGE

FRAPPEDES IN THE SUMMER

JUST A FAINT SMILE

BY THE WATERFRONT

Petra, a quiet and peaceful neighbor...

2012-01-17T18:53:00.000+02:00

I have always had a warm relation to the village of Petra. It is so different from other villages by the sea, and that is a good enough reason to go there. Not just because of the precious Byzantine church of Aghios Nikolaos and it's colorful interior, but many alleys and roads and a great Platía where everyone meets for a drink before dinner or just a coffee break during the day. I know that Petra touches me in the Winter, becaue of it's silence and the days of waiting for the Spring and Summer to come...

Never forget a lighter....last part, my walk back...

2012-01-16T15:15:00.000+02:00

COULD NOT LIGHT A CANDLE. NO LIGHTER

TO CASTRO FAR AWAY

NOT MOLLY´S BAR BUT SHEEP'S BAR

CHAPEL WITH DISCREET PERSONALITY

PANAGIOTIS TOOK THIS, AFTER MY TRIP

A shortness of breath, holiness and spider's web...

2012-01-15T11:40:00.000+02:00

I am familiar within myself with the word of simplicity. It is, the way I see it, easier to complicate than to be in Contact, thus reaching my own simplicity. Nowhere but here, anywhere in the world, the way I know it, can I be touched by the beauty of the simple symbols used by people with beliefs in whatever they believe in. I was outside Agiá Fotiá yesterday (Fotiá means fire!) and now I am inside of the chapel. Symbols that speak for themselves. I am glad I learnt how to come in to the chapel, bacause you have to turn the key in the opposite direction to what you are used to when you enter and vice versa. I am rewarded and so you will be, if you make the effort of finding this chapel or any other of the thousands on the island....

HOLINESS AND SPIDER´S WEB

AFFECTION/DEVOTION

ICONS IN BACKLIGHT

PEACE OF MIND

LIGHT FROM EVERY ANGLE ON A FAMILIAR FACE

PETRA, FAR AWAY BUT CLEARLY VISIBLE

Imprints never ever come for free...

2012-01-14T10:52:00.001+02:00

Walking is sometimes the only way to find what you are looking for. I was out to find one particular chapel, Agiá Fotiá in the Laguna Valley and it looks like an easy walk, if I pay attention to where I walk. The first time I tried it was closed because of a flood, but probably only in my imagination. This day I walked and walked and turned around after two hours of walking, an aching back and sad indeed that i did not find the chapel. On the way back, I suddenly saw behind a minor ridge, roof tiles and a small black cross. There it was! A very simple chapel, outside, imagination inside. More of that another day, when I have taken in the walk itself and all my mixed feelings...

AROUND THIS BEND, THERE IS ANOTHER BEND...

A PASTORAL, COMMON AND ALWAYS PEACEFUL

OLIVE TREES CHOOSE THEIR OWN WAY, NEVER MIND THE HARDSHIP

NOT JUST TO WALK THROUGH

I AM GLAD I HAD BEEN TOLD HOW TO OPEN THE DOOR....

The legend with the curly coated hair...

2012-01-13T01:37:00.000+02:00

There are lots of different kinds of people on Lesvos. Mine and everyone's friend, the famous and legendary Stavros from Rhodos is one them. The man comes from a mountain village, but looks like a Bob Marley friend, a name he has been called before and is pretty tired of hearing, but his mother lay down on her knees and begged him to try to look like a normal man, but Stavros still wears his curly coated hair. This is a special man to me. Makes me laugh, fixes super capuccinos at Aigeon café in the harbor (here I am again), a good host for the guests and looks at life seriously and with his own philosophy of how to live it. He is a super fellow to have dinner with, never shorter than 4-5 hours, mostly because of the laughters around the table to all his jokes and happy mood. This guy is worth saying hello to, even if he is a stranger from Rhodos.....

THE GRAND HOST AND ENTERTAINER OF THE CAFETERIA AIGEON

STAVROS FROM RHODOS, EXPLAINING THE TRUTHS OF LIFE

SMILING STAVROS FROM RHODOS

Day in and day out...

2012-01-12T13:52:00.000+02:00

She does not know me. I do not know her. But we know of each other and I always greet her on my walks in the harbor. Many years now, the same work in the morning in the same chair. No matter what activity there is down there. Today exceptionally quiet. I do not need a watch here. It does not give me more time, but I can be in what I am in, at any given moment....

SHE DID NOT WANT TO TALK AT FIRST

BUT I STAYED FOR A WHILE AND THEN WE SPOKE

INCREDIBLY QUIET DAY

WAITING FOR A FISH TO BITE

Pushing things in front of me...

2012-01-11T10:11:00.001+02:00

I am still in the harbor. Watching the pier line across the water from my coffee chair and it had struck me earlier, that I have never been out on the pier and I told a friend of mine. He just stared at me and said, "you have to be joking". I could just answer "no, I am honest. I have always said, there is always another day". So, after so many years in the village-town, I went there and took a few pictures of my beloved harbor on a very quiet day. I just picked a few and I saw the part of the world in miniature, that I carry around with me, wherever I go in the world.

I went back when I heard my friend Stavros from Rhodos shout at me from across,

"Torsten, your coffee is ready". So, what stays with me is, how could I have avoided going there during all these years? Too much of pushing things in front of me. An imprint to think about......

ON A VERY MIXED BLACK AND WHITE DAY

ALWAYS CARRYING THIS AROUND WITHIN

FISHING, ON A QUIET DAY LIKE THAT

THE AIGEON CAFETERIA AND THE CHAPEL

BRINGS US FOOD ON THE TABLE

Kind and genuinely kind...

2012-01-10T10:27:00.000+02:00

I think of this sometimes, that I could write about individuals that have made a good imprint or two on me during all the years on Lesvos. I have also met people who have given me not so good imprints, but they are few and you meet them wherever you go.

I am often in the harbor, because it has so many faces. This particular day, I met one of those special people, who is not just a kind person, but genuinely kind and who leaves a clear imprint. Meet Angelos Kitslis, one of the rare ones.....

A GOOD MAN. BUT FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, DO NOT PRACTICE ARM WRESTLING WITH HIM

HIS PUPPY BELLA, NOT AFTER A PARTY, JUST TRYING HER LEGS

SUSPICIOUSLY ATTACHED TO THE PHONE, SO GUESS HE MUST HAVE TALKED TO SOMEBODY SPECIAL

After the heavy rain...

2012-01-09T15:19:00.000+02:00

Sometimes it rains and it can rain heavily and so it did a few days earlier. It could be "a few days ago" from last year or the year before, because it always happens. This particular day, I went away the old road between two villages to look for a chapel that I had been told to see. I knew how to go there, but I soon realized that the water had damaged the dirt road so much that they had closed it up in the woods, so I had to go down and back through lovely Petra. I was high up and realized how green it all was everywhere. Like "The green, green grass of home", like the song goes. It made an imprint of freshness, in the middle of January. Always time for new excursions....

STILL A ROAD

PETRA AND THE CRISPY GREEN PASTURES BEHIND

ROAD CLOSED, WATER FLOODS

Something to open up for and something to close down...

2012-01-07T19:05:00.001+02:00

The new year has started and yesterday, we officially closed down the Xmas celebrations, on the 13th day of the birth of Christ. At least according to tradition in most countries in the Western world. So, the candles are burning out for small Xmas "trolls" and something new and innocent is born, for me to take care of and nurse, like for most of us, whatever it might be......

BELLA THE INNOCENT AND THE INCREDIBLE

A NEW YEARS TOUCH

"TROLLS" PULLING DOWN THEIR CAPS TO FALL ASLEEP AND LETTING THE LIGHT FADE

Hope, and being in the Here and Now...

2012-01-06T12:16:00.000+02:00

I am often thinking about the word "hope" and all it's relatives, like missing, longing for, that all have to do with the desire to know what tomorrow will bring, or even the next hours. The need for avoiding the unknown, but the unknown is there in any case and noone can do very much about it. I try to stay as much as possible in the very Here and Now, but not forgetting the past. (That is where I have all my experiences). It is only in the very Now where things can happen, that might help the "later" to turn into what i want it to be.

Thinking about that today when out walking in the very heavy winds and looking at the faint green colors showing up on stage, the hope for more light and warmer days, new meetings, past things to be renewed.

When I stay in the Now, I can watch the "figure" showing itself, meaning the focus of what is happening around me, with my own eyes, seeing the green getting greener, like a constant voyage into what is approaching me....

FRAGILITY OF THE NEW NOT YET HERE

GREEN IS HOPE TO ME

SOOTHING COLOR

HOLDING ON TO RUST. FROM VAFIÓS TO MOLYVOS CASTRO

GLORIOUS VIEW TO ISLANDS FRAMING PETRA

For friends we love...

2012-01-05T13:13:00.000+02:00

I, like so many others, just take it for granted that all people we love always will be there. They are not. It happens to me, to you, to mst people, that we have to pull the "hold" handle sometimes. So flowers and candles are moments of contemplation and symbolic thoughts and like an action through cyber space.

Pure gold on tap, and plenty of it...

2012-01-04T11:51:00.000+02:00

I have lived with these trees for many years on the island. Lesvos has a world fame for the quality and taste of the gold from the trees. They say there are over 10 million of them. Not so strange it becomes something of a great pride and feeling for tradition. Considering the debate going on in Europe about the quality of the olive oil, I know I am safe buying the gold of the island. I am thinking about going together with some friends and help the local farmers to sell their incredible oil directly, which I have done in a smaller scale for many years. I prefer that instead of letting "the big boys" from big cities come here and lower the price for those who bend their backs to survive.

In the village of Molyvos, perhaps the best olive press is located, just down the road from where I work. I go there once in a while to meet the people and friends who deliver their olives from their trees to make them into pure gold! Incredible fascination considering the thousands of years this culture has been going on! Anyone can always contact me for this. I wish many want to share this imprint with me! Money to the locals, the pleasures of their work to all of us....

DOWN THE THROAT

BOSS FOR THE OPERATION, CHECKING ALL IS OK

CANS FOR GOLD

LIKE A PETROL PUMP

ONE OF THE CLEANING PROCESSES

WHEN NOT HAVING A SNACK ,BABBIS DOES A HORSE'S WORK WITH CARRYING HEAVY SACKS

BOSS WITH CLIENT STRATIS, WHOSE OLIVES ARE IN THE LONG PRODUCTION LINE

PURE GOLD, GUARANTEED VIRGINITY

FRIEND STERGIOS AND LOCAL WORKER WAITING FOR THE GOLD

SHOPPING LOCAL AGRCICULTURAL PRODUCTS, FROM HONEY TO GOLD

Eftaloú, an imprint that stays for ever...

2012-01-03T12:53:00.000+02:00

I go to the village of Eftaloú, and I wonder how come that I am so often thinking about this place, that mostly consists of a row of tree and wall covered gardens, a road along the waterfront and the sea as a neighbor. It is everything from a glittering comedy to a roaring drama, where I am playing a role and the sea another one......

The International Lesvos/Molyvos Motor vehicle show 2012...

2012-01-02T01:41:00.000+02:00

If you want to get your hands on any of the two price winners in the 2012 Motor vehicle show, you really have to open your wallet and dig deep into it, because they only come in one copy of each. The motorbike category winner exposed an exclusive design, with a closeness to the ground for road stability, that impressed the judges. The seat comfort was also impressing and the effort to really be a vehicle close to the animal environment made the visitors from The Green Party very satisfied.

In the heavier category, power was the key word with extraordinary technical capacity and the luxurious upholstery of the driver's seat, of pure foam rubber in light yellow/beige, that made the judges stunned by surprise and admiration for the futuristic look....

AIR FOR BACK WHEEL IS EXTRA

BEAUTIFUL FRONT DESIGN AND TIRES THAT DO NOT NEED AIR

EASY ACCESS TO ALL PARTS OF THE ENGINE AND DIRECT AIR COOLING SYSTEM

SUCH INVITING SEAT COMFORT AND EXQUSITE DESIGN MAKES THIS THE DRIVER'S ULTIMATE DREAM

Joy and hope, on this day of birth for all of us...

2012-01-01T10:34:00.000+02:00

For whom the bell tolls, for all of us, with the fragility of something new, a greeting to all anywhere and to myself on this, the first day of a year ahead of us. I hope everyone is going to be good to him or herself, so that we all can be good to others....

It is not over yet...

2011-12-31T10:03:00.000+02:00

More fun and it could go on! It was such a pleasure to be a guest there and thank you all children and leaders for a super day and a happy new year to all of you, Xronia Pollá......

Expecting children

Safety first

Molyvos Weight Watchers yearly treat

Manolis getting kids in line

fighting for points

Law and Order

Love, fun and engagement....

2011-12-30T01:41:00.000+02:00

The Xmas show of the scouts was a terrific experience to me. To see all glowing eyes and red cheeks of excited kids and not the least, the energies of dedicated leaders like Maria, Eleonora , Manolis, Stratis and many more among the many proud parents. More pictures to come. What would we do without the children?

The world would be gloomy....

Lägg till bildtext

A very good fellow....

2011-12-28T16:28:00.000+02:00

Vassilis and his smile, makes me feel good all day.

Me, my black horse and Christmas Day....

2011-12-27T15:19:00.002+02:00

On this day I have the roads of the island for myself. I own Lesvos. Few people are out. Everyone with their families, spread out over the whole island, Fília, Anemótia, Agiássos, Kallóni, Mytilíni and all the others. Perfect day to saddle the black horse and take a ride with the camera across the shoulder. Slowly moving in the afternoon and it's faded orange colors. I went to that pretty Agia Lemoni. I set candles for myself and loved ones, dead or alive, wonderful flowers and outside, a view of the rock between Petra and Molyvos, in that fading orange colors of the setting sun. A spiritual imprint again. A special greeting to Doukas, with whom I share the feeling for this chapel. Xronia pollá gia ólous......

INCREDIBLE PIETY. AGIA LEMONI

MY BLACK STALLION

CANDLES FOR LOVE

STILLEBEN ALMOST

INVITING OUTSIDE

BEWITCHING BEAUTY

Για όλους τους φίλους μου στην Ελλάδα....

2011-12-25T13:17:00.003+02:00

Καλές διακοπές και πολλές ευχαριστίες για το 2011.

Ανυπομονώ για πολλά χρόνια μαζί.

Στην πανέμορφη Ελλάδα

With peace of mind for me and everyone...

2011-12-24T03:07:00.000+02:00

I am in a country and on an island, where we celebrate Xmas on different days. I think of that when an ordinary day for many is the day of celebration for me. What does it matter, really? Same God, same thoughts, different habits. I wanted to find a picture with the colors of joy and peace that could symbolize my hopes and wishes for myself and others and selected this. I will be good to myself, not just because of Xmas, but for many other reasons and hope that others will do the same to themselves.....

Me and the other cats, just before Xmas, the Greek way....

2011-12-23T10:18:00.000+02:00

Decorations have a multitude if varities, everywhere. I would say the Lesvians are fantastic in how they treat their flowers inside and outside their houses, but that is another story to revert to for me. Now a walk to do some window shopping for Xmas decorations. Jst a few along the empty streets of the village, where most seem to have done their shopping, except me and a few others. I use a hand made Xmas table cloth from back where I come from and plenty of candles. That is enough for me! I am always last with these things, so today has to be a working and fixing day!

But me and the other cats, that are usually following my tail, took a bit of a look the other day! No problems with variations.....

XMAS DECORATIONS ALL THE YEAR ROUND

ALWAYS OPEN. SHE IS INSIDE THERE, BUT SHE DOES NOT LIKE PHOTOS...

NOT BAD, NOT BAD

NEAT AND IN GOOD ORDER AS USUAL IN THIS SUPERMARKET WINDOW

A crystal clear day, between rain and stormy winds....

2011-12-22T10:11:00.000+02:00

I know so many of these pictures. Not just to look at, but to carry inside of me. Still called imprints. It was incredibly quiet in the village. A few days left before Xmas Eve. I had coffee in the harbor with a sweet friend and then I tiptoed through the streets. Here just a few of all photos taken that day and I will choose more for myself to remember, but another day. Two days to come of school break shows to visit. To watch expectant parents and excited kids, but stormy winds tomorrow, so they say at least.....

CLARITY ITSELF

LIKE A PEACEFUL MIND

WALKING THE AGORA WITH A FRIEND

SNOWWHITE AND A CAT

COLORS LIGHTEN UP MY INSIDE

Γεια σου Ελλαδα!!!! and Happy Holidays to all and to myself....

2011-12-21T09:51:00.000+02:00

Today is the shortest day of the year and then "time" will turn, offering me and everyone more light and longer days and hopefully with hope, joy and happiness. Thanks Greece and Lesvos for being here, for me and everyone who wants to understand this country and it's people. I am happy to have the opportunity to spend so much of my working time and days when I am off, on this island of all islands....

My relation to doors...

2011-12-20T11:11:00.000+02:00

Doors can be open. Doors can be closed and doors can be locked. From both the inside and the outside. I have a relation to doors. There is always something with doors that is there to signal to a visitor. An abundence of messages! Hospitality, hostility. I realize how many photos I have taken of doors on this island. Like a never-ending story! Messages of a welcome or a stay away from me! Whatever, behind them is always a language waiting.....

WHO IS THE PERSON LIVING HERE?

MANY KINDS OF DOORS. NORMAL DOORS AND DOORS TO WINDOWS

A BEAUTIFUL DOOR. BUT SAD.

A bit of a different kind of Xmas shopping....

2011-12-19T11:35:00.002+02:00

Xmas is not the time of the year for a Greek, Of course, everything is becoming business, but Easter is the big celebration for Greek families. Nevertheless, Xmas is Xmas, school break shows take place and kids expect to get gifts. I want to do it the lighter way, so I go to my local super market to do the shopping. There, I can find anything that can amuse me over the Xmas days....

Umbrellas when rain is falling. Comes in handy!

He can probably fit in somewhere

Made in China

I must buy one of these. Then I will never wonder where my spoon is

Great variety!

Waves in a coffee cup....?

2011-12-18T12:14:00.000+02:00

I like when the days are warm and windy. I am the only one out and I have a coffee in the harbor, sitting outside and my friend Stavros just chuckles. I am actually more or less in the sea, trying to protect the camera from the salt of the sea. I am out for two hours in that weather and I feel so good and I notice that the winds are so gusty, that there is a wave in my coffee cup. Terrific day in Lesvos! I would love many people to experience this. It makes obvious imprints....

WAVES EVERYWHERE, WINDS FROM THE SOUTH

OK, A BIT ANGRY TODAY

FROZEN CASCADES

WAVES EVERYWHERE TODAY

DARK AND THE PIER GETS BEATEN UP

After the rain front is gone, the curtain goes up...

2011-12-17T08:20:00.000+02:00

Then comes new colors again. Absolitely amazing! I feel I talk to myself a lot about colors, but, alas, they change from day to day, from hour to hour. God´s tears fell this morning. Heavily, rattling, smashing window panes and doors. And all of a sudden, with a camera always ready and catching the fronts go away and the curtain goes up, for a new and colorful play.....

THE FRONT IS JUST GONE AND THE AEGEAN BLUE SHINES THROUGH ON ROUGH WAVES

LIKE SPRINGTIME GREEN

POLARITIES

A beloved child has many names...

2011-12-16T10:04:00.000+02:00

Have I seen the harbor before? Thousands of times. Greek villages on "my" island has a tendency to stay long and make heavy imprints on me. I notice that I always see something new, another angle, another shift of color, of shadow and light. We can always see for ourselves. I will do it as long as I can...

Down to the harbor

Amazing colors and a sleeping beauty

Always nice and tidy

Kafeníon Aigéon like a part of the sea

Mirror , mirror on the wall

Looking down from road back to the village

Like a painters palett

Katina, sweet neighbor...

2011-12-15T00:34:00.001+02:00

Always smiling and kind and full of good energies, my dear neighbor Katina, seemstress in her shop, clever, clever with what she is doing, which includes a bit of the local gossiping and saying hello, even if you meet her ten times a day in the alley or flirtatious when meeting in the street....

Your beautiful house, what a character

She sees me

A little shy and charming

How to be possessed....

2011-12-14T10:03:00.000+02:00

An obsession is not always healthy. But the nature of this island at least possesses me. One season is so different from the other. I feel that one imprint that I am carrying with me all through life, is the training of the eye to watch, take in, memorize and enjoy. The same place is never exactly the same when I return to it. I could spend an eternity that i do not own, on making new discoveries on this island of colors and light...

Survivors

Sprawling

A tunnel to the sea

A naked beauty

Psiriára, mon amour...

2011-12-13T11:27:00.000+02:00

I cannot count all the times I have been on this beach. Since the times of my daughter's childhood and my own first careful steps with shoes taken off, approaching the clear water on calm days or simpy take a walk like this day and took these photos. When I think about other beaches I have been to in the world, Psiriára does not seem like anything I would write home about, but there is a magic light and sound over this area and especially at this time of the year, when most people have other things to but to unfold a beach umbrella. I feel that the sea and the many sounds of it, give me reminiscences of where we once came from, a very long time ago. Winter-Wonderland in Lesvos, imprints each and every day....

Velvet sand with spread out pearls

I live by the same water like anyone else

Psiriára has many faces, depending on water and wind

The water's edge

Silvery sea and the green to come

Like a still life

Being a part of the village...

2011-12-12T09:51:00.000+02:00

First football. Then basket. Being a part of the audience is like being a part of the game and of the village itself. Everyone is welcome and I feel I am. Great day for the various teams. Also the basket ball team won and this time over Mytilini. It feels good to sit down and enjoy the company and the excitement. Makes me feel at home...

Fighting spirit always wins! Thank you team....

2011-12-11T10:53:00.002+02:00

Football time against arch rival Kalloni! Slow first half, as if everybody on the field just needed a break and a coffee in the locker room! A very exciting second, with the game on one half of the field. Great opportunities before the first goal, and then just to finish it off, 3-0. A very fair game and many thanks to all for an entertaining afternoon! That includes the audience,
with the variation of characters around!!! More imprints in me next Sunday...

TIGHT FIGHT!!! SECOND HALF!!!

INCREDIBLE ENVIRONMENT FOR A FOOTBALL GAME!!!

OK, MESSI, YOU ARE JUST NUMBER 2!!!!! WE HAVE OUR OWN!!!

ALWAYS TIME FOR A HALF-TIME FLIRT!!!

GUYS!!! FOOTBALL, PLEASE, NO DANCING...

MIXED AUDIENCE

CLOSE UP!!!

NAIIIIIII... 1-0!!!

CLOSE AGAIN, MANY CHANCES!!!

FUNNY BODY LANGUAGE!!! FINISHED WITH 3-0 AGAINST ARCH RIVAL KALLONI!!!

Themes of Winter walks...

2011-12-10T08:12:00.000+02:00

Not exactly crowded in "my" village. Everything looks like being sound asleep, but that is just an image. The cat has found a nice bed, the street is delightfully colored in the Winter light of the day and Christos is helping us all to understand how life's necessities are spelled and we do need to survive. Cute, I think. These imprints and many more are here to stay as reminders of the past and the coming Summers and to show Winter in itself and it's delights. This time of the year in Lesvos, is nothing but a miracle.....

Damn you boiler, you drive me close to insanity.....

2011-12-09T09:03:00.000+02:00

I have never been fond of boilers. Actually, I hate boilers. Even Lesvian boilers. They are supposed to warm my house and keep me cosy. Not this boiler. It has hated me from the very first day. It teases me close to insanity. Then I met the famous Greek plumber, Stratos of Anaxos. (Thank you for the tip, Taxía). He will be in the Greek History books for his unchallenged taming of obnoxious boilers!!! With that extraordinary tool box of his, with screws, nuts and bolts from the middle of the last century, no boiler survives him. He sleeps with the wooden box, I assume. He is the Rocky of plumbers, beaten but never giving up. Thank you, dear Stratos for saving my sanity........

Stratos of Anaxos in the best of your days

Not very systemized

The exquisite design makes PRADA blush!

The anger of Tor's hammer hits the island....

2011-12-08T01:10:00.000+02:00

Everything is not sunshine on Lesvos. Sometimes, the skies open up for wrath and tears from Almighty Tor. Like on a day in December, when colors are black and grey and you can not see the mountain side or the islands in the stream! The last of a fire where the lightning from the hammer hits the Mini Market building just down the road and the upper floor turns into black and few things are left inside but a big hole in the roof from the powers of the hit. Noone was inside when it all took place. The smell of wood on fire stayed for long in the house....

Original grey in the early afternoon...

The mountain side is gone in the mist

The last of the smoke from the house on fire

God's tears on the window

Xmas bazaar time, kids, parents and an incredible slot machine...

2011-12-07T00:32:00.001+02:00

I was sick like a dog, but can never be without the Xmas bazaar with the imprints of the school, kids and parents in focus. Smiles, laughter and creativity.....

How about that for bottles!

Sisterhood!

Giannis, a great kid and a good scout!

Ever seen a real slot machine before?

Terrific sounds from both!!!

Smiling Santa!

The same tree, that same Godlike morning...

2011-12-06T00:44:00.001+02:00

Cool and smiling, teenage jeans, and good exercise for more beer at night.

Costas Katsarós, a man of the world, where good people live...

A few Heineken

Could you ask for a better working environment?

The olive tree, the father in law and his hat...

2011-12-05T09:59:00.000+02:00

O Kirios Spanou and his hat, two inseparable friends since long, have done this work before. From down on the ground to the top of the tree! I finally found him and my friend Costas in their growth that silent morning, breaking backs...

Spending the days looking up...

Not the first time

Peekaboo!!!

Morning haze and nature in rust...

2011-12-04T03:11:00.001+02:00

Another part of that incredibly silent morning up in the village of Vafiós. I can never get enough of the Nature of this island. Never ever. And always close to you. The hazy morning light when the sun rises, the outlook over the villages of Petra and Molivos and the rusty colors of Autumn...

From Vafíos towards Petra and the bay

The very Venetian castro, in the village of Molivos

I wish the client could see her in the other end...

2011-12-03T10:23:00.001+02:00

It's like being one part of an old couple relation with her (sorry, Costas). After all the years we have known each other and with her rather hot temperament sometimes, it makes the perfect combination of that and the sweetness of her character. Meet my friend Marianthi, a wonderful Lesvian human. Another one that makes imprints on me. All the time....

Who smiles to a client on the phone?

It takes a while to make her relax a bit when you have a camera with you. Look at those eyes!

Euphoria and silent meetings....

2011-12-02T00:50:00.001+02:00

I carried it with me the whole day, in some kind of pure euphoria. That absolute silence in the very morning above the village of Vafiós, a bit up the mountain slope. Normally, autumn leaves are dry and rattle in the wind. But there was no wind. I told my motorbike to keep as quiet as possible and when i stopped, the silence came over me. Not the slightest sound. Silence was aching in me. And then I saw something white behind the bushes along the road. And coming closer, a white and holy cow of considerable size was just standing there in the back light. Did not care about me. No contact, like with the mule that caught my attention, staring at me with more than a slight indignation. Then the rest of the morning......

What is that?

Holy cow!!!

OK, I'll leave right now!

Peace of mind...

2011-12-01T13:56:00.001+02:00

This unreal amount of resting places on our island for your mind and soul. At any time. The silence is free. I need this imprint today. Even if adiexodo on the sign, means an impasse...

Where do you get your spiritual light from, Lesvos....?

2011-11-30T00:35:00.000+02:00

Light keeps us going, darkness often only for sleep. Of all the imprints of this remarkable island, I feel the light strikes me like a lightning. It is spiritual in it's deepest sense to me and changes with the times of the year. Always some new light to look for and look forward to...

450 mm lens from my terrace to the tip of a well known island

Daytime from Molivos village. A little playing around with colors. But the same light is there

To me extraordinary backlight on a sea like velvet

Always open and close....

2011-11-29T00:52:00.000+02:00

I can very well remember the first imprints I had of this island, in many villages I have been to and where I have stayed. There have always been open tavernas, practically round the clock. You never know when hunger sets in, do you? In this village, you pass by the taverna and it sure looks like it is closed for the season. But that is just an image. Inside, it is warm and plenty of people and a pig´s knee for dinner.....

Closed for the season

But no, just open the door...

Good friends do not grow on trees...

2011-11-28T10:45:00.002+02:00

My relationship with Vangelis is a long and good story. Lots of people know this guy as the former owner of Alonia and great evenings with eating and dancing out in the street among the cars passing by....It is terrific to have the privilege of being one of his friends. Like it is with genuine friends we hopefully all have. Welcome back, Vangelis, when you return from your trip.....

Help to selfhelp...

2011-11-27T09:57:00.000+02:00

She is incredibly kind to others, one of my dear neighbors. It is not that I meet them that often in a real sense, but they are, so to speak, a bit of comfort knowing they are there and they are my part of "my alley". The blond lady had been on fancy shopping, wherever you do that during this part of the year, but she might have come from Kalloni or Mytilini, who knows? And she carried a businessman's or busineswoman's briefcase behind the shopping bag.... It went very slowly, but steadily down the long stairs of the pedestrian. A normal, sunny day in a small alley in a fairly small and quiet village on Lesvos in late November. Thinking, "yes, we neeed to help each other more, even with the simplest thing and for some it is a natural thing to do...

Balancing for the next step

Stop to breathe for a while

All these colors and a lemon for a GT...

2011-11-26T09:49:00.000+02:00

The orange trees are hanging down by the heavy and juicy fruits and there is a visitor on my lemon, supposed to end up in glass with GT. When some colors go, this treasure island always has new ones coming out of everywhere. - It is weekend, and the backbreakers are out with their nets and their pain that they pretend not to have after 6 hours of hard work. All over the island, everywhere...

Resting for a while...

2011-11-25T00:40:00.000+02:00

I feel it often here, as one of the major imprints of this island, that resting is necessary, for something new to come up. The islands helps me and others and other things to do so. No doubt this car needs a bit of help, like the elderly lady who had to stop on the way and lean a bit to the wall, heavily breathing after the many steps from the main road and up the alley beside me...

Pure delight...

2011-11-24T12:06:00.000+02:00

I cannot ask for more! A morning sun on the terrace, coffee and that colorful street outside. Mild in colors, mild in an Autumn's day. My heart beat slows down on a day like this in late November...

Súntoma, sto spíti...

2011-11-22T22:56:00.000+02:00

Not exactly the right date but almost. Early morning up and a long flight, but that does not matter when you know your goal...See you tomorrow , friends and I will be writing and shooting pictures most of the time.

November, party time and silence...

2011-11-21T02:12:00.001+02:00

November is a bit of a party time to me. Just before the real Winter work takes place. The harbor in Molivos, dancing and total piety and two friends, with an occasional cigar....

Blues Brothers

Recognize?

Velvet Sea

To each and everyone...

2011-11-20T16:00:00.000+02:00

a fantastic week of joy and good work and camaraderie, with a rose from the neighbor's....

Makes me feel very modest...

2011-11-19T00:46:00.001+02:00

Every time the moon is out like a glowing bulb, it makes me feel very small. Not insignificant, but a bit modest with the distances above me, with that "endless" Universe and nowhere does it have such an influence on me like in Lesvos, even if it is the same moon I am looking at, wherever it appears...

Vafios, like a string of emeralds

Alonia, here I come...

2011-11-18T01:46:00.004+02:00

Had a terrific dinner tonight but was all the time thinking of the food I crave for most of the time, and it is close now, I am creeping up to the table, digging into the delicasies of the Lesvos cuisine....

Photos by Ioanna

Coffee in the morning and a candle for Mixalis...

2011-11-17T01:15:00.000+02:00

I have a candle lit for him most of the hours of the day. Not because of any special christian belief, but like Timolis says, "you believe in what you believe in and it does not really matter what"! It feels pretty comfortable and very undramatic to light it up each time....

More of Nostalgia...

2011-11-15T02:41:00.000+02:00

I just found this photo of my friend Antonis. The guy with the curlylooking hair! I smiled this early morning and remember again how many things that are happening to us and that we can forget too early! A time with a long time friend, when he was different in many ways from who he is today! And the text on his T shirt. Well, we all grow up sooner or later...

At least the same colors as Olympiakos!!!

Vatousa's precious jewel...

2011-11-14T01:13:00.001+02:00

I had seen this bus before, on my way to Sigri. When I started my coach hunting all over the island, I decided to take my motorbike and go there. It was a long ride back and forth for a bus! But worth it! I looked at the front and thought it was worth the trip. A beautiful Volvo bus ending up as a shelter for sheep, goats, chicken and dogs! This the third bus I that I found on the island and many wonder if I have had too much ouzo when I start talking about them. But they used to be carrying people around in style and somebody can now use it for other purposes! I smile each time I look at it....

What i face, like a shining lightning in silver and gold!!

The tenants!

A goat with a necklace, fitting a beautiful limo!

Vangelis, so close a friend of friends....

2011-11-13T01:21:00.000+02:00

I remember the cat that did not want to leave your shoulder, but tried to dig her claws into you, for you never to let go! I am happy to be called your friend for real and how much you have always made our island a place for real meetings between people. Perhaps it is to be a bit idealistic, but since I have so many profound experiences with real people from Lesvos, why should I think otherwise?.......

Gia sou Ellada....

2011-11-12T14:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday the new coalition government was sworn in and kept the clergy busy for a while. Noone knows what will happen, a new election to result in what? Whatever, something that sounds like progress is going on, in between all those tough moments for so many. Hopefully more than a breather and I do not doubt about a good final outcome, one of these days and noone can say when! What I know though, is that you do not have to look Greek or be Greek by origin to feel a brotherhood in love. I do and have done for a very long time....

A harbor has many faces...

2011-11-11T02:27:00.000+02:00

These incredibly peaceful moments in the harbor, an early coffee or two at Aigeon, loads of fresh fish and colors I never thought were possible to see. I try to approach it with humility. Then I can feel how far away from the maddening crowd I am. Go there, our roads might cross....

Nostalgia, a reminder of how fast our time is passing....

2011-11-10T03:02:00.001+02:00

I never stop getting surprised over how many years I have been to the island, and Ioanna as well. I just found those two artistic drawings of someone who later became a photographer. It is a very strange mixture of feelings that I experience when I look at the Castro in Molivos, the pool at Hotel Delphinia or the Sunflowers just beside. It swings from laughter to a pounding heart. It also gives me the real meaning of what an imprint is to me.....

The tanning bodies to the right, the feet to the left and the parasolls. The pool at Delphinia.

The Sunflowers by the Delphinia pool and that authentic drawing of the Castro that would have made even the Venetians a bit surprised. But it looks like a home with flower pots and smoke out of the chimney.

In this messy world, I needed to look at....

2011-11-09T12:17:00.001+02:00

somebody really nice and sweet. I woke up this morning and was thinking about how chaotic the world is, how many greedy so called leaders there are, making it a mess for normal people like most of us. I needed to think about somebody nice and kind and smiling, sort of hope-giving human being. I know so many that I could mention, but Anastasía popped up in my mind and immidiately, it felt a bit better. I will make it a habit always to think about somebody I am fond of, when things are dark out there....

Nice to know on chaotic days

Deserted places...

2011-11-08T02:29:00.000+02:00

There are to me also places that leaves me with a totally deserted feeling. It can turn into sadness. And this particular day it did. It is not about places that are deserted by tourists. That happens every year and they will be back, but by the locals that have shut down their beach hotels forever and left the beaches and their dressing rooms and showers, and only summer cats are left that noone cares about, and beaches that used to surge with sounds from water and seaweed. It leaves me with a hollow feeling, like that of an empty road, leading nowhere...

An island worth a hundred poems...

2011-11-07T03:15:00.000+02:00

I am still hanging in there, with autumn and quiet, contemplative days. Which does not mean quiet and boring. No, when I stop, anywhere, I reflect over the same things I seldom think of in the summer. Like hearing but not listening. My imprints come from seeing the island in it's naked context. I take walks in a quiet way. Like not wanting to disturb a resting shore, a broken dock, passing below a closed estiatorio Gatos, that looks like a fortress, sitting with a coffee in the harbor by a few remaining tables still waiting for guests, the Tropicana Platía without any sounds of guests full of joy and a beach where no sand warms the wandering feet....

On a day like this...

2011-11-06T02:32:00.000+02:00

...when all of us have someone to remember, it is as if Mother Nature feels the same. Giving everyone a peace of mind. And many walked to Mandamados with family and friends, like a natural place to visit for all of us, believers or not...

Shining windows for this special day

I could hardly breathe from the silence

Lots of creatures on their way to Mandamados

Loved ones to remember, present or gone

Even the Sea held it´s breath

Same Sea, a brother island...

2011-11-05T04:52:00.000+02:00

Amazing that the masters of Venice had our Molivos Castro on Lesvos buildt. I had a feeling of brotherhood and met many Greeks on this very different island but all the water from the same sea...

Sailing away on smooth waters....

2011-10-29T07:33:00.000+03:00

Reminiscenses of warm Summer days.

Just sit on a stool, thinking and guessing

where it will take it's crew.

We are always sailing, through life.

I just never know where it will take me....

Time to rest....

2011-10-28T01:49:00.000+03:00

Not the normal views, but just as common as the mornings.....

Different angles and light of a beloved village...

2011-10-27T09:24:00.000+03:00

Thousands of pictures have been taken of this fantastic village of Mythimna. These are a bit different when I decided to use a heavy tele lens. Same love, different angles, different light....

My island is full of contradictions....

2011-10-26T10:43:00.001+03:00

What?! Where are all olive trees and the green pastures of the island? Remember the first time I came over a ridge and saw the moonlike landscape of south western Lesvos. A bit dead at first sight, a long line of sheep down the vally made me amazed and the first sight of beautiful Sigri.

From here to eternity

Marching group of sheep

A small chapel among the few trees

Ipsilon hitting the skies

Sigri, the open sea and then much later, hitting main land

Indescribable, Lesvian sunsets....

2011-10-25T02:09:00.000+03:00

Waiting for a few hours to find the particular moments

that are not waiting for you!

Patience has it's virtues.

Lesvos in Gold.....

Forgor to straighten the horizon, but does not take the beauty away...

In the last two photos, with a bit of an effort, you can see the birds in the golden water

Miracles any day, any time...

2011-10-22T23:35:00.009+03:00

Beautiful October and November. Stunning! Lucky with the light from that hesitant sun,

no winds, taking a swim, warm water,

sunbathing in your underwear, incognito...

Contemplating fisherman on the pier, mirrorlike water in the harbor.

What else could you ask for of relaxation and beautiful nature?

My imprint island of Lesvos, any day... any time...

Shining mirror

Turned outside in

Gorgóνα

Axilléας

Peace versus hostility...

2011-10-21T09:58:00.002+03:00

On a day like this, I look for something that reminds me of something else, but hostility! Eftalou, Delfinia beach and a view to the mountains, in its own silence and serenity. Even if I did not balance the bottom photo, I decided to say to myself, "do you really care"? I do not. My own need of peace versus hostility in all of Greece is by far more important....

Lesvos treasure...

2011-10-20T08:43:00.001+03:00

It is not so much time left, before so many people will have a rendevouz with their precious olive trees.

Some of the olives have already been nibbled on!

We all prepare ourselves for the work in different ways. Some are more relaxed than others...

Maria, the donkey!

Sleeping beauties...

2011-10-19T10:47:00.000+03:00

On the way to one of my real imprint villages, the one of Vafiós, close to Molivos. The empty and resting welcoming chairs at Taverna Vafiós and the breathtaking beach of Xristi Aktí with it´s layers of light. Three sleeping, very unpretentious beauties at this time of the year.....

Lesvos taught me a lot about silence....

2011-10-18T08:53:00.000+03:00

It is time for that special silence on Lesvos. All the Autumns and Winters have it in them!

I looked for symbols.

What a sleeping beauty and it could be me or anyone in that rowing boat. On a journey through life!

From Sigri and Molivos. Ioanna took the photo of the man in the boat.

Silence on Lesvos, is very particular to me. I keep telling myself that. Over and over again.....

Some never got this special shot!!!

2011-10-17T21:32:00.001+03:00

That´s the way to bring your mother to church!!!

For you who did not see this on the blog today!

Something got screwed up on some peoples PCs!

Taking mother to church...

2011-10-17T08:42:00.000+03:00

That is the way to come to church for your wedding, with your son as the driver! On a beautiful day, with joy and friends. Another imprint, another great memory. A Greek wedding with style.
Only on Lesvos....

Intimacy, I felt

Peaceful aftermath

Gossip alley...

2011-10-16T10:57:00.002+03:00

Last night I had a dream about my neighbors down the alley!

You can set the watch after the start of the gossiping hours, usually starting at 7 in the evening. Day in and day out, exactly the same place, the same people, year after year. I cannot understand what has happened to them during one single day, giving them all that energy and intensity of words being exchanged.

I remember I had a picture taken in September. More people to come later on. It is like a drop-in!

A bit of a distance, but did not want to sneak up on them.

I miss them right now. It is so innocent....