Autumn

The Cyclades in other seasons was my dream. A visitor since 1974, I'd wanted most of all to live unattached by every day obligations. It happened unexpectedly and I experienced it to the full. Discovering the sky isn't always a welcoming blue, that the sea can be black for days, because of the wind the temperature is too cold for words, and that the islands lacking in living souls in months with shorter days offer almost no dialogue for weeks on end was a lesson in patience overcome by getting out to remote areas to capture photographically what few seemed unaware of. This included the discovery of a stone exterior Byzantine church, a fascinating archaic structure hidden on the far side a of densely overgrown river bed which caused me to crawl on hand and foot, facing upwards like a spider, laden heavily with my bulky camera bag unavoidably scraping the ground for much of the way.

This included the discovery of a stone exterior Byzantine church, a fascinating archaic structure hidden on the far side a densely overgrown river bed that caused me to crawl on hand and foot …

Autumn in the Cyclades is particularly memorable. On one occasion I'd ventured far over rough land covered in oregano, rosemary, thyme and thorns to an ancient mining area, climbing steep, rugged hills that often descend into valleys almost impossible to confront, especially with so much camera gear. Strangely, there weren't goat paths for guidance. My mistake was to forget the fast fading light of the season. As I hurried back, a mesmerising view of Siknos blanketed in orange appeared stopping me for a final shot using the tripod. While the camera did
its work, I admired the scene with an overly ripe apricot, the first thing I'd eaten since morning. In front, the sun began sinking into the Aegean lighting up a cloud above. With my right hand covered in sticky juice from the fruit, I had no choice but to take hold of the other camera with its impressive telephoto lens and capture this memorable scene. There was still almost an hour to go on foot and this I did in the dark.