The simple life
A photographic exhibition in Nicosia details the lives of tradesmen whose way of life is in decline
Someone once said ‘It’s very simple to be happy, but it’s very difficult to be simple’. In our current cultural climate where values are based on technology and materialism, the saying has never been more true. Cyprus, a fresh member of the biggest club in Europe, striving for economic success, is still just about clinging to its uncomplicated traditions.
Through a simple series of black and white photos documenting the lives of old Cypriot tradesmen and women, a new exhibition by a toughened photojournalist, celebrates our forgotten generation.
After moving to Cyprus five years ago, Laura Boushnak remembers how the old part of Nicosia had a special impact on her. “Most of the people I came across shared my admiration for the unique character of the place. Living in the heart of the old city itself, it did not take me long to realise where the magic came from – within the hearts of the old Cypriot tradesmen and women who keep the soul of the city alive.”
Laura decided to photograph four shops on Aeschylus Street, which she passes every day. “I don’t speak Greek and they hardly speak English so a smile and my camera were the only means of communication between the cobbler, printers, carpenter, false teeth maker and myself.
“They were always hospitable and warm. I saw them as a genuine reflection of the Cypriot culture that I hope I will always remember. The old people in Cyprus represent real Cypriot culture, something that may not he here in ten or twenty years.”
The most striking thing about crossing Aeschylus Street every day, she says, was seeing the tradesmen’s love for their work in defiance of their old age. “The cobbler for example, is still working at the age of seventy-five. He rarely has any clients, but he keeps on going regardless. Rather than just growing old, his work keeps him fulfilled.”
Laura’s exhibition serves to remind us to question the purpose of human work. “It is much easier for us to buy a chair than to design and build it with our own hands,” comments The Weaving Mill’s Leontios Gerasimou. “The cost however, is that we are increasingly losing the meaning and value that work could have in our lives. Laura’s photographs register with the humility of the everyday life and people whom today’s culture wants to ignore.
“Let us try so that our culture does not become one in which progress is measured by economic indicators, but one in which work expresses the meaning and the beauty of life”.
By spending time with the cobbler, the carpenter, the printers and the false-teeth maker, Laura says she has learnt to have faith in life and to live her life to the full. As a photojournalist, much of her time is spent editing photographs depicting horrific images of victims from the West Bank. Her many assignments in Baghdad have meant a daily confrontation with the savage side of human nature. The exhibition she says, serves, in a sense, as a therapy.
“I wanted to do something that has nothing to do with war or politics. This project was a break from the heavy pictures I have to deal with every day. But I also wanted to give something back to people. My point isn’t just artistic, it’s something that people can learn from.”
The Aeschylus photos are in black and white, serving as a commentary on a generation of labourers whose work ethic and way of life is a dying tradition. Aeschylus Street is testimony to a forgotten generation.
“Usually I shoot in digital colour. This time I used black and white to add atmosphere to show that in ten or twenty years time, these shops are going to disappear. That’s another reason for this project, it chronicles and documents their lives, so that they will always be in our memory.”
Aeschylus Street
Photographic exhibition by Laura Boushnak. Organsid by the Weaving Mill. Until January 4. Fotodos Gallery, Cnr of Athens Street & Patriarch Gregorios Street, old Nicosia (near the Dragoman Hadjigeorkadgis House). Tel: 22-762275. www.ifantourgio.org.cy
