Victoria Mindova
Anyone who has visited Athens once associates it with the Acropolis, the taverns in Plaka or with the Parliament building on Syntagma Square. In his exhibition "Coastline, Athens", the young photographer Matteo David Johnson presents pictures of Athens, which we do not know very much. The main characters of the exhibition are the beaches of the Greek capital, which have nothing to do with the bronze tan of relaxing tourists or with the luxury establishments along the yacht marinas.
The exhibition shows the pure, genuine reality in the regions of Faliro, Glyfada and Vouliagmeni. In the summer, they embrace tourists, but at the same time, remain the home of hundreds of thousands of residents of the coastline of Athens throughout the year. The photographs present Matteo David Johnson's view of the coastline reality, combining it with brief descriptions, like a painted story. They make the viewer feel like a hero of a comic book in which a surprise awaits him on each page. It is as if you have put the travel bag on your shoulder and go around corners of the coastline of the capital you have not known so far.
The photographer has managed to find and give a touch of romance and quiet beauty to the figures living in the coastal areas, no matter how topical they may appear to us in life. Abandoned ships, passengers in the rain, workers on industrial sites by the sea, cargo ports and their cranes as frozen iron birds are the background of Matteo’s Athenian story. He is from the state of Maryland, where he lived until the age of ten. Then he moved to Italy - the homeland of his mother. The woman of his life - his wife, Natalie, who is a Frenchwoman of Greek descent, connects him with Greece. About three years ago, they decided to settle in Athens, which both recognize will not be their final destination. They define themselves as people of the world and both agree that a way can be found out even from the worst situation. The important thing is never to give up.
Why did you decide to focus on the subject of the coastline?
I have walked for some time around the coastline of Athens. Being a geographical area it is also linear and adopts very well when you try to tell a story. That is why I chose it as a ground where I can experiment by telling stories with comics and photos.
What was the first picture that inspired you to start the story of the “Coastline, Athens”?
Actually it was the Faliro area wherethe old Olympic complex is situated . I first started to take walks there and I loved the landscape. Then I took my camera with me and started taking pictures there, because every time I was strolling around the coastline in this region I would find something new. Afterwards it came naturally to me and I started applying different pictures on the subject of the coastline. I proceed to look for new locations and I went further down to Vouliagmeni.
The coastline sometimes evokes the feelings of sadness or loneliness. How did you feel when you captured the surroundings?
Actually, I never felt even remote sadness looking at the coastline, not even in the ugliest parts. It is just what it is and it’s extremely diverse. I don’t think that it can be described as sad or happy. It is what it is – the reality in a certain moment and I tried to capture that.
What is photography for you?
It’s capturing the world in one exact moment that is unique just for that certain second and making it last forever. With the help of the camera, I can easily freeze the reality that is outside me and recreate it in a way that I see it and most probably not the way it is in reality. That is my reading of the world and I can re-express it in a subjective way.
How did you come up with the idea of the comics and what made you combine the photos with the stories?
Before photography, I used to write and I still feel the need of telling a story 100% all the way. I was trying to figure out a way to write more about the story that my pictures hide and I went through a lot of experimenting, but nothing seemed to work until I remembered about this journalist, who went to Afghanistan and he mixed photos with drawn comics. It gave me a good basis to be able to write on the pictures, so I started to transform the pictures that I was going to write upon.
Who are your favourite authors?
I like the style of Milan Kundera and greatly appreciate the writing of Raymond Carver, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs.
Some of them are known for their good knowledge of the dark side of the world. Have you translated similar feelings in this particular exhibition?
In this particular work I was not trying to express darkness or at least not on purpose. It is more the reality through my own eyes and in this case, I don’t see darkness.
Sometimes it is really hard to put your art out in the open where you can receive good, but also bad criticism. Did you have any doubts about it?
Constantly. (he laughed)
Who supported you so you could finally exhibit your work to the public?
My wife Natalie supports me a lot and my friend Klelia. They have been close to me ever since I decided to involve myself with writing and photography. The truth is that probably without the on my side I wouldn’t exhibited “The Coastline, Athens”.
You have lived and created in Greece for quite some time now. What is Greece for you?
It is the country that I live in as my own choice, unlike many of the people that are here now. It feels like home and there are many things that can make you feel happy, but at the same time, can embitter you.
This is mainly due to the way things are happening here. The Greek way of life comes with positive and negative sides and very often the reasons that I love Greece are the same reasons that I don’t like it that much.
For example: nothing is ever done in a rush; everything is done quite approximately, but rarely all the way; Greeks are spontaneous and sometimes it can bring beautiful results and lovely feelings, but sometimes the results can be disastrous. In general I can say that people in Greece are genuine, which at the end of the day is much more a good quality than a bad one.
* Matteo David Johnson's exhibition is at the art gallery Vrisaki: Vrisakiu, Plaka 10555, Athens
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