Book launch | Effy Alexakis: Forty Photos – A Year at a Time

Join us for a conversation between photographer Effy Alexakis, Leonard Janiszewski (co-creator with Effy of Greek Cafés & Milk Bars of Australia) and Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian and member of the Executive at the State Library of NSW.

24 May 2023 | 6:00pm

Forty Photos – A Year at a Time will be launched by Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Malikourtis.  

Documentary photographer Effy Alexakis has been recording the Greek-Australian community for forty years, in partnership with historian Leonard Janiszewski. In 2022 she accessed her vast archive on the Greek-Australian experience and selected one contemporary image, together with its associated story, to represent each year since 1982. Her aim was to reveal the changing face of Greek-Australians.

Each photograph evidenced salient aspects significant to the personal journey of the photographer and her evolving understanding of her community and heritage – both within Australia and overseas – and in so doing, provides a unique visual insight into the ongoing story of one of the most emblematic sociocultural groups within the flux and challenges of a contemporary multicultural society.

The exquisitely designed hardcover book features Alexakis’ ongoing documentary work and personal photographic aesthetic, an introductory text by the photographer, and two engaging essays offering insights into the national significance of her visual journey – the first essay is written by Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian, State Library of NSW; the second by historian and project partner, Leonard Janiszewski.

We are delighted to announce that there will be an accompanying exhibition of a selection of Effy’s photographs on the evening of the launch.

Venue

CCANESA Boardroom
Madsen Building F09
Eastern Avenue,
University of Sydney Camperdown Campus
Click here for map

Places are limited. Registration is essential. Click here to register.

“Nothing tells us as much about ourselves as a photograph. The camera shutter blinks like an eyelid in a fraction of a second and immortalises a moment in time. The paradox is that in the hands of a good photographer that fraction of a second has the potential to make time elastic. It can represent a day, a year, a decade, or a whole era… This is the moment that the photographer hopes to capture, because if they are lucky enough to do so, then they know they have actually captured a piece of human emotion so pure that it speaks universally… EFFY ALEXAKIS is such a photographer, a magician of moments. “

Lex Marinos OAM, Actor, Director, Arts Administrator

“The image has its limits, in time and in space. It only speaks to time by way of elliptical implication—in the case of portraiture, to the past and destiny of the person it depicts. And as for space, the background is only the imme­diate context in the sight of the photographer. Again, only elliptically can the background address the wider context of the subject’s life. Like the great portrait photographers, Effy is a master of this, evoking meaning of longer timeframes and spaces wider than the frame of her viewfinder. Masterfully, she pushes powerful meanings beyond the edges of her frames…”

Professor Mary Kalantzis
Multidisciplinary Academic, University of Illinois, USA

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