Photo exhibition "My Athos" at the Moscow Theological Academy
On April 21, in the framework of the XII Slavic Forum of Arts "Golden Knight" the Moscow Theological Academy opened a photo exhibition "My Athos" by Kostas Asimis.
Among the officials presented at the opening ceremony were the Bishop of Zvenigorod Theodorite, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, N.P. Burlyaev, President of the International Slavic Forum of Arts "Golden Knight" and People's Artist of Russia, and Kostas Asimis, a photographer and an author of "My Athos". Teachers, staff and students of the Academy visited the exhibition.
There are about 180 photographs depicting unique holy places and a monastic life of Mount Athos. These are moments of festive divine services, and everyday work in Athos monasteries and its amazing nature. Portraits of the Athonite elders and monks taken from 1984–2016 is the core of the exhibition.
Historical photographs of the late XIX - early XX centuries convey a unique atmosphere of the Panteleimon Monastery in last decades of the Russian Empire. It made a bridge to the life of contemporary Athos.
Photo artist Kostas Asimis is from Tashkent, where his parents moved after the civil war in Greece in 1949. Then, they went to Yugoslavia, where Kostas Asimis received his philological education and seriously took up photography.
For the first time Kostas Asimis came to Holy Mount Athos in 1984. For many years, the photographer has been collecting artifacts of Athonite history and working with rare daguerreotypes stored in an old photo laboratory on Mount Athos. Here, he restored some priceless old photos from the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery archive. For example, there was a photo with the face of the Most Holy Theotokos captured in tongues of flame during the distribution of bread to the poor beyond the monastery. Photography in Athos started in the early 70s of the 19th century. With the blessing of Archimandrite Macarius (Sushkin) and Elder Jerome, monks not only recorded all significant events in the life of the monastery, but also practiced genre photography. Soon, following an example of the Russians, some Greek monasteries also acquired their own photo galleries.
Thanks to the works of Athonite photographers, we have a chance to see the innermost life of Mount Athos both now and years ago.
MThA Press Office
