The photo that I present here is part of a larger project about Crete and the Old Harbor of Chania, a popular travel destination on the west side of the island.
Crete, in the years of the financial crisis from 2008 onwards, became even more depended on the tourism industry. Everything seemed to evolve around tourism because this was the only “industry” that was financially profitable at a time where salaries were collapsing and unemployment was going to the roof.
One side effect of this huge dependence of economy from tourism was that life in Chania was somehow reduced to an image that fits the idea of a touristic destination.
People in Crete, according to the dominant narrative, are always smiling, dancing, drinking raki and playing music, enjoying the sun and having fun. Positive stereotypes can become negative when seen from another prism and stereotypes of the “joyful native” can turn into stereotypes about laziness.
The constant repetition of similar images of picturesque sunny beaches, glorious sunsets and almost caricaturist portraits of "real indigenous people" imprints in the minds of visitors that “this is really Crete”. It casts a shadow to everything else that doesn’t fit the dominant narrative and forces people to comply and adjust to the collective fantasy that move the wheels of economy.
In a global level, people are becoming more and more location independent.
New technologies based on the internet increase our independence from the physical world. Now, a large number of people work “on the cloud”. We create communities based on common ideas and interests. We choose to exist in digital tribes. We are less and less depended on physical locations.
This reality became magnified through the catalyst of the pandemic.
In this kind of environment, travel is not anymore just a matter of leisure, it becomes a matter of identity and status.
In fact, travelling becomes the means of the improvement of the self.
Those who can’t travel are recognised as restricted, unable to enrich their existence due to their inability to move freely and choose where to live.
There is clearly a new divide.
This is a reality that the dominant division is between those “independent” and able to travel anywhere they want, who are in search of a higher level of consciousness which surpasses local and national boundaries towards an identity of a global citizen, and on the other hand "the locals", those who are bound to a place, who can’t work from distance, who build and belong in communities and depend from them, who hold local identities, who make compromises. Many times, those who are bound to specific locations are also working class people. These are the people who are mostly affected by the rise of rent prices caused partially by the influx of tourists and travelers.
In the intersection of these two realities, there is a battle for meaning.
My effort is to bring back to the surface some of the richness of life, the stories and events where everyday people of Chania – like myself - make meaning of their life.
It is a life where restrictions exist, but it is also a life where people with conflicting ideas despite their differences find ways to coexist, synthesize opposing views to create new meanings that alter their common reality.
In my body of work, I try to scratch the surface of the touristic product known as "Crete". I present the view of the local, not of a location independent digital nomad, traveler or tourist.
On a second, more personal level, this specific photo reflects on who I was on a specific period of time.
As many others in Greece, I was devastated by the 2009 economic crisis. I developed as a photographer during these years of decadence and I believe this reflects on my work.
During winter, when the Old Harbour was empty of visitors, I walked and took photos of the few locals. The photographs of this period mirror my view of the world, which is dark and pessimistic, distorted, like this capture I took of a faceless man who holds an umbrella.
It is my “Impression of a Long Winter”.
It is a winter that has lasted too long and seems to continue nowadays as we enter a new economic crisis.
