ΑΝΩΠΟΛΙΣ: ΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΣ Δ. ΦΙΩΤΑΚΗΣ, ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΧΑΝΙΩΝ

Στέφανος Δ. Φιωτάκης

Βλέπε την μελέτη:
Τσίργιαλου Αλίκη: Στέφανος Ιδομ. Φιωτάκης φωτογράφος 1881 έως 8.4.1971. A Mirror of Crete. ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ ΜΠΕΝΑΚΗ 6(2006) 121-141. Αθήνα 2007.

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In 2005 the collection of the previously unknown photographer Stephanos Fiotakis came into the Photographic Archives of the Benaki Museum. We only have a few details about his life since the majority of his papers and of his photographic work were destroyed in a fire at his house, which was the tragic cause of his death. Stephanos Phiotakis was born in the village of Theriso in the Prefecture of Chania on the 26th May 1881. Both the date of and the inspiration for the start of his photographic work remain unknown, but are perhaps to be placed in the mid 1890s when Fiotakis was about 15 years old and probably apprenticed to a photographer in Chania. It is not possible, without pure speculation, to work out which of the distinguished photographers of the city introduced Fiotakis to the secrets of this new medium. From the stamps on the reverse of some of the photographs show that for a short period he worked as an independent professional photographer in the island’s capital. In 1904 he collaborated with the photographer Georgios Potamitakis in Athens, whose photographic studio Ios was located at Agiou Markou 38 and who specialised in portrait photography. We do not know when the collaboration between Fiotakis and Potamitakis began. It ended in 1905 when the revolutionary movement led by Eleutherios Venizelos, Konstantinos Phoumis and Konstantinos Manos, started at Therisos. This had the aim of removing the Prince from Crete and the proclamation of the union of Crete (the Megalonisos) with the Greek state. In the photographs of the struggle at Therisos by Fiotakis, the revolutionaries are heroically immortalized with their patriotic pride clear to all, reinforced by the dominating presence of the Greek flag. After the uprising at Theriso, Fiotakis seems to have moved to the village of Vamos in the Cretan Prefecture of Apokoronos and worked there for a while as a photographer. The greater part of his pictures from this period are single or group portraits. By examining his photographs with careful attention to the ‘props’ he used (a rug, a chair and a flower vase) we can see that the photographs were taken in an open air studio which was set up temporarily in the courtyard of his house. Those photographed, for the most part unidentified, stand like wax models, frozen in time. Only in a few cases did Fiotakis attempt some staging of objects to add naturalism to the picture, while the natural diffused lighting allowed no dramatic emphasis. In 1916, economic necessity forced Stephanos Fiotakis and many other Greeks to leave Crete and emigrate to America. There he worked as an employee in the White Studio, one of the biggest photographic agencies in New York at that time, which was particularly famous between 1905 and 1936 for its portraits of theatrical personalities. His work involved both the taking of studio portraits and technical skills such as the retouching of negatives. His interests as a photographer in New York largely centred, as was natural given his origins, on the Greek community in New York and its activities. He recorded the parades on days of Greek national celebration, the visit of Nikolaos Plastiras at the beginning of the 1950s, the activities of the Greek school ‘Platon’ and of the Cretan Society of America. Fiotakis retired in 1951, when he was 70 years old, but his photographic activities did not end at this point. In 1958 he returned to Crete for the last time and photographed her people and places. His lens focused on everyday life in the island, preserving for posterity scenes such as weddings and church celebrations. He died in New York on April 8th 1971 at the age of 90, the day after fire broke out in his flat as the result of faulty wiring. The fire was catastrophic and destroyed most of his photographs. Such of his work as survives consists of photographs which had already been given to his son Emmanuel and whatever survived the fire. As a result, the 1100 vintage prints and seven glass negatives that survive from Stephanos Phiotakis’ archive have a special importance. These photographs have had a long and arduous journey to reach today the safety they merit in the Photographic Archives of the Benaki Museum. DESPINA GRIVA Condition surveys of photographic collections. Case study: the Stephanos Fiotakis archive Curators and conservators are responsible for the archival survival and longevity of the photographic collections they manage or conserve. A rational and cost-effective policy relies upon an estimation of their condition before allocating resources for both preventive and interventive conservation of photographic collections. This can be achieved by conducting a condition survey of the collection, which will provide the institution with the necessary information on the state of the collection and the action that has to be taken in order to slow or halt its deterioration. Such a survey has been applied to the Stephanos Fiotakis archive. The methodology used has been the examination of a statistically designed random sample of objects in the collection. 295 objects out of 1100 have been examined and the results indicate that 48,82% of them require immediate conservation treatment. Severe damage was caused to the collection by the fire that destroyed the majority of Stephanos Fiotakis photographic work and by water damage consequent on extinguishing it. Furthermore, this survey provides a complete idea about the photographic techniques used, the type and grade of damage and the amount of work and other resources required for conservation. The conduct of condition surveys is a common practice abroad at a national level and hopefully one day a similar approach will be adopted by those responsible for photographic archives in Greece to the benefit of our photographic heritage.

ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΕΣ

Δες κι εδώ.

1. ΠΑΝΗΓΥΡΙΩΤΕΣ:

Η σφραγίδα του φωτογράφου:

2. ΔΥΟ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΕΣ:

Η σφραγίδα του φωτογράφου:

3. ΠΟΡΤΡΑΙΤΟ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΑΣ:

Η σφραγίδα του φωτογράφου:

4. ΑΝΤΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΕΣ:

Η πίσω πλευρά:

5. ΠΑΙΔΙΚΟ ΠΟΡΤΡΑΙΤΟ:

Η πίσω πλευρά:

6. ΠΑΙΔΙΚΟ ΠΟΡΤΡΑΙΤΟ:

Η πίσω πλευρά:

Φωτογραφίες του Φιωτάκη έγιναν ταχυδρομικές κάρτες από διάφορους εκδότες (Αλικιώτης, Ζουρίδης, Περάκης & Φορτσάκης), χωρίς όμως να αναφέρεται το όνομα του φωτογράφου.

Εδώ κάποιες από αυτές:

Perakis & Fortsakis #65 (Χανιά):