About
Welcome To ‘Kalymnos Moments’ – A Story Told
For more than 30 years I have walked, explored, & appreciated the island of Kalymnos, its nature & traditions; always with a camera in hand.
It was the writer John Muir who wrote: “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” & the fashion designer: Karl Lagerfeld. who said: “Photographic memories capture moments that are gone forever, & impossible to reproduce”.
These are my “Kalymnos Moments”: simply an opportunity to share the enjoyment of some of those wonderful moments with others.
“Kalymnos Moments. Tomorrow’s priceless treasures.”
For some years now, with an old book at hand of the geography of Kalymnos dated 1913, I have been travelling to unknown areas of the island, which led me to other eras, & to unknown paths. For months now, having put aside the time, I decided I wanted to get to know the Kalymnos of the past, associated with long–forgotten names, known only to a few old shepherds, which were to become gradually known, and familiar to me: Alinodes, Tsismes, Middle Mountain, Pero Dasos…
Up high, above the bustling town; little plateaus of fields cling to steep slopes; areas, which in the old times, the farmers’ hands had transformed into small oasis. Chapels — places where people made their offerings, sacred places, ancient castles which once protected and were bursting with life, but now stand desolate: a world of another time, a part of our island history.
Often, I walk along following paths that were carved centuries ago, carefully made, safe, enabling me to go from one place to another quickly. At other times, I walk along pathways that have been entirely erased by time: houses in ruin, dry walls which come into view on my way: wells dried up with no water, orchards with olive trees, almond trees, surrounded by tall ‘Koumoul les’, streams that lead to the small beaches of the lower part of Kalymnos, where, only by boat, or a lot of walking, can you enjoy pure crystal water, with shells worn down by the push and pull of the sea.
Many times I pass through the same places and each time they are different, each season placed with its own colors, and they all turn into visions which calm the soul. I do not want to keep this beauty for such a short while; only for the duration of a walk: an instant. “I should take them with me, I thought to myself, so that others can see and enjoy them, & so I capture ‘The Moment’ with my camera!”
Now, using more modern technology, I can record these ‘Kalymnos Moments’ upon an, ever changing web site, dedicated to all those who lived here, and left, so that they can once again become a part of this islands earth; for those that were forced to live in migrant places, so that they will always have a piece of home with them.
For those who can still visit this island paradise, I urge them to do so, to see, to explore, to smell the thyme, the scent of ‘olisfokia’, of the fresh, damp morning soil: to once again, feel within themselves, their ancestor’s presence. For island’s visitors that have chosen this island place, to experience, to see and get to know the nature & traditions: they will be more fulfilled and more content.
‘Kalymnos Moments’, an island tribute: pictures of the sea and of the mountains, with people that hold a pure gaze, the island’s residents that use the sea to earn a livelihood, that bring in all its goods it has to offer, sponge collectors and fishermen. The camera clicks and captures, not only the old, but also the new Kalymnos, the place which has been loved by all the people who have lived here, even for a short while. The island of the sponge fishermen, my home…
Stathis Sakellariou Klimis
