| Europeans in Pictures - Extraordinary People in Extraordinary Places |
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| Celebrate the differences! Pictures of people I enjoy. |
Over my years of traveling
in Europe, I've met some people with extraordinary stories. If
you get off the beaten track and listen to what people say and are sensitive
to the cultures in which they live and toil, you will root out some pretty
interesting people, too, I'll bet.
Now, right at the onset I'll
tell you that my definition of extraordinary is different than most. I have
a soft spot for people who devote their lives to being good at something,
even if that thing is drilling a hole in a piece of wood or grilling eel
at festivals. The gaudy world of haute culture is not for me. It's the same
with food. Innovative, expensive cooking is fine once in a while, but set
on my plate the down-to-earth solutions to food preservation that peasant
cooks have passed down through the years--their contribution to regional
cuisine--and I'm a happy camper. Think confit de canard (duck preserved
by cooking it slowly in its own fat and preserving it over the long winter
in that same fat) or vegetables (sometimes fish and seafood) sott'olio,
preserved under olive oil in the Italian manner.
If you were to look over
my entire European picture portfolio, you'd notice that I don't put too many
people in my pictures. But every once in a while I feel compelled to focus
on faces. I usually ask people if they'd mind being photographed. What I
might lose in spontaneity I often gain in access--people will show me things
they think are important in their lives. If it is their desire not to be
photographed, I respect that as well.
I'll let each of these people
tell their story, click to see and read more.
| Extraordinary
People - Europe Pictures |
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Kostas,
protector of goats, Island of Youra, Greece. Ok, we're
lured to this island by the promise of excavating the cave of
Zeus, seeing the special breed of goats, and staying on an uninhabited
island. But Youra, it turns out, isn't uninhabited. Kostas and
his wife are there as guardians of the special species of island
goats found nowhere else on the planet, the frequent target of
poachers. Click on the photo to learn about Kostas, who relates
an extraordinary tale of bread making on the island. |
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Val
Camonica, Italy. Some fairly common articles one finds
in California archaeology are obsidian drill bits. They were
likely made to be used with a pump drill. Imagine finding an
Italian woodworker who makes his living through the use of a
pump drill, not simply by demonstrating it for tourists, but
by actually using it in his day to day work! |
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Florence,
Italy. Who these days makes a living by being a friend
to pigeons? This fellow could tell you all about it. |
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Serra
Orrios, Nuragic Village, Sardinia, Italy. My first time
in Sardinia, I was taken by the beauty and the desolation of
the island's interiors. Here the field director of the expedition,
Lenore Gallin, contemplates what life would have been like 3000
years ago in Sardinia. |
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Women
weaving baskets, Castelsardo, Sardinia. I like the quality
of light in this picture. It is a typical scene in summer, when
chairs are dragged out into the streets and women gather to gossip
and work. I've come to admire this lifestyle over the years. |
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Festival
Goers in Local Costume, Sedilo Sardinia. People here
take pride in their past, a quality I've always admired. However
much the young people want to go to Milano to make their fortunes,
it seems they also take time to learn the local dance, music,
and language while they're "trapped" in Sardinia. These
women are on their way to L'ardia di San Costantino, a dangerous
horse race with ancient roots. |
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Links
to related articles or pictures you might enjoy:
Sardinian
Costume Pictures
L'ardia di San
Costantino
Italian
Festival Foods (Slide Show)
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