The etymology of the word Panorama from Wiktionary:
παν - (pan) (plural πάντα (pánta))
- the universe
- the most important thing
- everything (usually plural)
όραμα - (orama)
- vision (ideal or goal)
When i was travelling at various pilgrimage sites and taking photographs i thought that a single picture cannot frame what i could see. Video offers a solution to this issue but i feel that using the video camera at sacred places somehow spoils my intentions to capture the true depiction of the sacred surroundings.
Maybe this is considered as an unjustifiable hesitation but i feel that technology should be used with thrift in my research. It is not about dogmatic stiffness or an exaggeration but what i feel as an artist and as a beleiver. My perception on the matter may change in the future.
Filming the Proskinitari construction is another case since it was a creation that was not holly during construction and also because i became familiar with it in a way that i am not so hesitant to use digital or videocamera to “capture” it. Maybe this is just a trick in my mind and heart that will be solved in the future without real worries.
Since i felt that the boundaries of a simple photo cannot show what i see in a sacred environment i decided to experiment with panoramic photos. The equipment used was just my 2 Mpixel mobile phone. A mobile phone is a device that became an extension of our bodies nowadays so its handy to use everytime i go for research in a sacred place.
Sometimes too much organizing and hustle preparing tripods, cameras, lenses etc let you lose the moment and never capture it.
The photos below are taken in the abandoned village Saint Swzomenos. The village was abandoned in 1964 during the intercommunal clashes between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.Many people died before knowing the reason. The Turkish invasion in 1974 destroyed the ecclesiastical inheritance in many occupied villages but this is another story. God Knows.
