During the summers of 1983–84, American photographer Tod Papageorge shot photographs of people who walked up to the Acropolis in Athens to see what all the fuss was about and prove they had been there. His work blends ancient with modern, appearing lost in time.
I took the photographs in the summers of 1983 and 1984, during intense sunshine and heat. Since we are at the far end of the tonal scale, postures and gestures become very clearly differentiated. They looked to me like a pair of figures on a Greek vase, arranged in a symmetrical fashion. Athena’s mythical home set me buzzing every time I visited, thrilled to be approaching the glorious place. Who could have known, in 1984, how the haircuts and clothes of the day would, 35 years later, appear both timeless and current? That’s a gift of photography.
Tod Papageorge told The Guardian
