Untitled, Greece by Young Tom
“Out of the sea, as if Homer himself had arranged it for me, the islands bobbed up, lonely, deserted, mysterious in the fading light. I couldn’t ask for more, nor did I want any thing more. I had everything a man could desire, and I knew it. I knew too that I might never have it again.”
Henry Miller
The Colossus of Maroussi
TOM,
“Any man who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad.”
–W. C. Fields
“Any man who quotes both Ken Kesey and Henry Miller can’t be all bad.”
–S. J. Atkins
Except in my vivid imagination since childhood, I’ve never been to Greece… never in reality dipped my oars in the wine-dark sea nor made landfall on Mykonos, Crete, or Ithaka. But I grew up with the Odyssey, was beguiled by Circe and Calypso, feared the wrath of Poseidon, and put my trust in my personal guardian goddess Athena for deliverance. Making landfall on an island looming out of the sea and sky, and homecoming after a long, troubled journey… are myths and images that are very, very deep in the soul… not only mine, but I think the whole of western civilization, part of the very base core of our culture and collective imagination. And by happy happenstance, your photo resonates with that core archetype… it slides into focus as matching a semi-conscious or sub-conscious template of the archetype and thus stirs deep memory and longing in powerful and mysterious ways. (This is what I meant by the idea of ‘resonance’ that I think I mentioned in an email to you well over a year ago).
And so I wonder, how many of the people who have responded to your photo, whether commenters or silent observers, have actually been to Greece, or seen a scene such as this through a ship’s porthole? My guess is that it speaks to many who fall into neither category.
Interesting (to me) is that nothing about the picture itself says specifically “Greece!” to me… intellectually I know that especially the winter months in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas can be wet, stormy, and dark, but somehow that doesn’t meld with the sun-baked Greece of my imagination. The light, the state of the ocean, the rain on the glass remind me far more of many island landfalls I have made in other climes… especially Japan and Korea, Indonesia, the coast of British Columbia, Washington’s Puget Sound… for these are the places where I have done most of my sea travel and acted out my own hollow echo of the Odyssey, and often gazed with tingling anticipation at sea and islandscapes through rain-streaked ship’s windows.
But the simple title “Greece” is not only appropriate but singularly evocative… since whatever our personal visions or experience of Arcadia may be, they all lead back in lineage to the shores of the ancient Aegean.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Sidney!
WOW!!!!
I have never made landfall in a ship, have spent precious little time on the water, have never been to Greece and until CIVILIAN, never even was particularly curious about Greece..but you took this photo, sat me down at the table, talked about it, pointing to this or that as you spoke, your eyes penetrating mine, communicating your feeling, expressing so much more than words could possibly say, the tone of your voice, the profound depth of your experience and your imagination inflamed by your readings took me around the world and then brought this photograph home for me.
To tell you the truth i was not inflamed by this photo and could not really get the overwhelming positive reaction to it. I tried and did the best i could but was only halfway there. But you gave me the missing pieces and your writing was magnificent, made a big ooomph sound as it sunk into my brain. (Though i still find that glaring highlight distracting but oh well)
Thank you, Sidney!
Happy Easter to you too!
kat~
Sidney, the words you wrote about Tom’s image that evokes our “collective imagination” are pure music to my soul. I’m so glad you’re here…
Patricia
YOU MIGHT LIKE THIS:
Often, when we look at a photograph we are guided by our minds and the task in hand.
William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher believed that, “whilst part of what we perceive comes through our senses from the object before us, another part (and it may be the larger part) always comes out of our own mind”. Perception can be data-driven and theory-driven. Knowing what we are looking for helps us to form an image of what is in front of us. We also know that our eyes can sometimes trick us.
As John Lennon once said, “reality leaves a lot to the imagination”.
Sir Atkins, Your key of your greek home is ready …( see Katie, Patricia, My Gracie, Tom Young……………………..
dimitri,
see above…
picture…
greece by young tom
poem
greece by gracie
for you…
when i look at young tom’s picture, i dont imagine looking through a ship’s porthole
but through my own eyes halfway filled with tears like…
i have not been home for a long long time.
and home might not be a place
but me in another time
gracie, thanks again, both for your beautiful poem and for the clarification.
And yes, how true, that is exactly where home is. and that’s precisely why the picture (and its title which would have been perfectly apt even if the picture had not been taken in greece) speaks to so many on this forum who have never been to the aegean – Sidney Atkins already explained it much better than I could.
I appreciate the obscurity of this photo-how the rainy layer disguises what lies beneath it. I can sense the sea and the land however, the land mass takes on a new layer that appears to be someone lifting up the sky and peaking through it as if it were a curtain. It seems so curious to me- is this another layer or is it just the way the lighting is hitting the land mass? It looks as if the land has actually taken on a human form to welcome the traveler home.
Best Regards.
Very magical photo, how many photographers would worry about water on the lens, glass and try to get clear view but great eye can see and capture such a beauty in all conditions. Love this photo very nice work
Sidney, you are a wonder. My most sincere appreciation for your words which encapsulated things that I felt but could not say. And you are right, this can be many things to many people. It certainly evokes many things for me, few of which I could even begin to express, at least not verbally.
I should mention that I consciously took a number of photos through glass while in Greece – on ferries, buses, taxi cabs – for several reasons, including some inspiration from Gina Martin’s wonderful work on Mexican buses.
Young Tom, this image makes me think of the days back when I taught art to adults at a community center. I remember showing a slideshow of my students’ work to a local artists’ organization. And what did I call the presentation? “Art is a secret we keep from ourselves.” For we do. I have found that my own work is generally months if not years ahead of my conscious awareness of what is actually being expressed. I guess if we could say it we would. Images dig deeper than words.
That’s what you’ve done here. And in digging deep into your own self, you’ve tapped into the universal that unites us all. This is what makes an image iconic. And to my way of thinking, this is an iconic image. I say BRAVO to you, my friend.
Patricia
Thank you Patricia :))
Been away for a few days so only now seeing this photo. What I love about it the most is how the water makes it look like one of those old medieval blown glass windows. Well done Tom.
Charles