Photo credit: Iason Athanasiadis                                                                                                               

It was a great honour and a wonderful experience to be asked by the New York Times to photograph the Parthenon. My image making process requires large boxes which I use as pinhole cameras. Each is outfitted with a single sheet of photographic paper, which, if all goes as planned, will yield one negative unique image. My effort is great, the images few. Because of my particular way of working and the enormous August heat in Athens, my days started early and went late. I received permission to arrive on the Acropolis before sunrise which meant my team and I, equipment shouldered, climbed the steep marble steps in pitch black night with Athens sleeping quietly to our feet. The tender warmth from the prior day still emitting from the old stones paired with the gentle order of cypress and pines. Wrapped in silence and warm scented air I arrived at the top facing the majestic Parthenon Temple. The ancient stones radiating silent authority will remain forever a lasting experience. Unforgettable to be there practically alone.

Just after sunrise, the security guards for the day had not yet arrived, a small unit of the Greek military marched in every morning. About 10 soldiers walking in a single file, the first carrying a folded Greek flag. As the sun rose over the horizon so did the flag on the eastern most side of the Acropolis, flag to sun. Once up the soldiers stood attention and sang the Greek anthem. We instinctively held still and watched in silence and respect. Not speaking Greek, I could not understand the words, but the ceremony was deeply moving regardless. Even my left leaning, liberally thinking Greek helper, held still watching his chest filled with pride. At sunset the same ritual repeated itself, no singing here, the flag once lowered, was taken off and folded to be carried away.

My team and I often spoke of the Greek Marbles removed from the Parthenon and from Greece. We felt deprived of a wholesome experience not being able to see at once, on the same day, all that survived millennia, all that so authentically belongs to this magnificent place where the heart of ancient and modern Greece lies.

 Vera Lutter

veralutter.net

Temple of Athena, Acropolis: August 25, 2021, courtesy Vera Lutter