Images of Home. Μαύρη Ξενιτιά.
Author: Effy Alexakis & Leonard Janiszewski
When Published:1995
Publisher:Hale and Iremonger
Available:Hale and Iremonger
Description:160 pages.
Available from:
Hale & Iremonger
PO Box 205,
Alexandria, NSW. 2015.
Ph: 02 9656 2955
Fax: 02 9550 2012
Eml: frontdesk@haleiremonger.com
Website: www.haleiremonger.com
A brilliant collection of photographs of people and places in Greece.
About 33 of the entries are of Kytherian people and places. This is a "must own" book for every Kytherian family.
Each entry contains a short profile of the person(s) or place - amounting to a brief oral history.
The effect is very dramatic - and shows how impactful even the briefest recorded history can be.
Documentary photographer Effy Alexakis and social historian Leonard Janiszewski have been researching their history and contemporary presence since 1982, and have made many field trips throughout both Australia and Greece, painstakingly piecing together what has become a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Effy Alexakis:
"The idea for this project began in Greece in 1985 whilst I was staying with the parents of family friends in the village of Mitata, on the island of Kythera. Although I had already noticed many deserted homes throughout Greece, it wasn't until I saw a whole street of deserted homes and ventured inside them that I realised that many of the people had left their homes with the intention of returning. Letters, photographs and other personal documents had been left behind. Like pieces of a huge jigsaw puzzle, these items provided small clues about the life within these homes. Australia's migration history is to be found in these homes. Unfortunately, through time, much is being lost."
Effy and Leonard have published numerous other books, and articles, in various journals, newspapers and magazines.
They have also established a digital archive at Macquarie University, Sydney, which can be accessed online.
See,
http://www.austhistmuseum.mq.edu.au/greek/intro.htm
For other entries about Effy and Leonard, at kythera-family search internally, under Alexakis or Janiszewski.
