Santorini is usually depicted as a blaze of colour. However, the beautiful Greek island has more than one face. Santorini has cool mornings, crisp shadows, and a million lungfuls of fresh sea air. Breathe in!
1. The land of red sunsets on a pale blue day. By Pilab.
2. Gone With The Wind. By Klearchos Kapoutsis.
3. Shadowy summer steps. By Jose y Eva
4. Small souvenirs. By Klearchos Kapoutsis.
5. Sun baked earth/cool shadows. By Wolfgang Staudt
These photos make me homesick.
Posted by thefty on 15/06/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/top-5-santorini-mists/
If you’re a Londoner, ‘TFL’ is part of your daily vocabulary. For those not in the know, TFL stands for Transport For London, aka the massive public transport network of buses, trains, bikes and boats.
1. Bright colours and iconic logos on the underground.
2. Bus windows with an eerie streetlight glow.
3. A neverending stream of well-designed posters.
4. A row of shiny Boris Bikes.
5. Damp bus silhouettes at Piccadilly Circus.
Posted by thefty on 25/04/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/top-5-tfl/
Hello! As you know, I’ve been on holiday in Cyprus for the last week. Springtime in Cyprus is pretty beaut, with a variety of trees in bloom (or loaded with slowly ripening fruit). I took lots of pictures, and these are my 5 favourites.
1. A giant, sticky pomelo blossom.
2. This is a prickly pear cactus. Have you ever eaten a prickly pear? The fruit inside is a vivid orange or pink, and is juicy, seed-studded and mildly sweet. They taste so good straight out of the fridge.
3. My grandparents were fruit farmers, and my parents are very good at identifying fruit trees. Having said that, my dad wasn’t sure if this was a peach or an apple blossom. Any ideas?
4. These furry green beasts house fresh little almonds. Yes. Almonds.
5. Perfect purple lemon blossoms. This is my favourite smell in the world.
Posted by thefty on 23/04/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/top-5-fruit-and-bloom/
I am of Greek-Cypriot descent, and I spent all my teenage years living in Athens. Now that I live in London, all I hear about Greece is bad news about the economy…but that hasn’t affected the scenery! It’s still the same, beautiful place! That gives me comfort, and hope.
1. A typical landscape: Mountains rising from the sea. By Halasi Zolt
2. Athenian urban sprawl: Gritty, but always colourful. By Thanasis Anastasiou
3. Athens at dawn: The old industrial zone, Gazi, now a nightlife hub. Greeks go out at midnight and stay out until the sun comes up. I remember the birds singing to me on my way home. By Stathis Stavrianos
4. Mykonos, by Henrik Berger Jørgensen. Because Santorini isn’t the only island worth visiting.
5. I can practically hear the crickets. I really long for this landscape. You have no idea how much I miss it. Photo by Clemens Koppensteiner.
This Sunday, March 25th, Is Greek Independance day. This date commemorates the beginning of Greek revolution from the Ottoman empire, in 1821.
Posted by thefty on 23/03/2012
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/top-5-greece-for-national-day/
Yes, I know I’ve posted a lot of photos of Barcelona lately. That’s what happens when you visit a highly photogenic city! Below are five shots of The Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, in the heart of Barcelona’s gothic quarter. I wasn’t expecting much when I walked in but – woah – the ceiling alone is like an Escher painting. Have a look:
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If you ever visit Barcelona, I highly recommend you go inside. (There are fat, white geese in the cloisters, too.)
Posted by thefty on 26/08/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/top-5-la-seu/
I am going to Cyprus at the end of this week, and I am anticipating a lot of good, home-cooked food. I can already smell it.
1. Tomatoes, basil and salty black olives.
2. A sprig of fresh Greek thyme.
3. Beautiful sardines in the oven.
4. Colourful peppers strung up at the market.
5. Crispy garlic baby Octopus eaten in Sitges, Spain.
Fresh! Fresh! Fresh!
Posted by thefty on 16/08/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/top-5-mediterranean-eats/
The thing that struck me about Barcelona’s old quarter was that every building was elaborately decorated. I particularly liked the contrast between old-skool vs new-skool styles:
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What a beautiful city.
Posted by thefty on 15/08/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/top-5-barcelona-buildings/
Hello! COLLECTIVE 5 is a weekly project involving readers’ photos. Anyone can join in! The rules, as well as next week’s COLLECTIVE 5 theme, can be found over here.
Here are this week’s photos:
1. Evdokia Tsiligiridou went Greece.
2. Mima Boardman went to Libya (back in January, FYI).
3. Vasilia Sykaki floated off the coast of Syros.
4. Emily Cole went to Nevada.
5. Richard Mundy crossed the Golden Gate Bridge.
Click here to check out next week’s theme! Come on, join in! I love getting photos from you guys!
p.s. Make sure you join my giveaway!
Posted by thefty on 12/08/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/collective-5-holidays/
Hello! I’ve been off the radar for a while but I’m officially back! Last week I was on holiday in Barcelona, which turned out to be a very photogenic city. Here is a very colourful set of images for your enjoyment:
1. When shop shutters come down during siesta, the streets become a gallery.
2. The spectacular windows of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia,
3. Sweets galore, all over the city.
4. Fresh produce at La Boqueria market.
5. A rainbow of round brushes in a hairdresser’s window.
O, Barcelona, I love you so.
Posted by thefty on 08/08/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/top-5-colourful-barcelona/
Paddington is generally associated with trains. Fair enough, but if you walk out the back entrance of the station, you’ll find yourself in Little Venice: land of waterbirds, houseboats and pubs. It’s one of my favourite parts of London.
1. This Coat of Arms is from 1900.
2. Looking down the canal on an autumn morning.
3. Boats with awesome names.
4. Evening reflections on the water.
5. And, of course, Paddington Station at its best.
p.s. Make sure you enter my giveaway! I’m celebrating and I’ve got prizes! Click here!
Posted by thefty on 13/07/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/top-5-london-paddington/
Greece has been in the news a lot lately, and not for good reasons. As someone who is Greek, and who spent their entire adolescence in Athens, this national unrest makes me feel heavy. The Greece I know is very different to the riot-zone depicted on TV. When I think of Greece, I think of the summer. I remember the warmth and calm, the flat blue sea and sky, and of course, the food. Beyond the smoke of Syntagma square this is what you’ll find:
1. The vibrance of a simple summer salad.
2. Families eating by the sea, sharing food from the centre of the table.
3. Fresh, seasonal fruit. I miss the local fruit markets!
4. Local tavernas in inner-city Athens, where the waiters know your name.
5. Octopi slowly drying in the sun, until they reach chewy perfection.
Oh, Greece. Oh, Greece.
Posted by thefty on 30/06/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/top-5-greek-summer-eating/
Hello! This is my entry to this Year’s GTech Driven Creativity Competition. I’ve named this photo ”The Approach’, as it depicts a boat preparing to dock. You can read more about the photo here, and if you like it, you can even vote for me. (I would be eternally grateful if you did!)
I’d recommend checking out the other entries as well – there are some pretty great ones in the fields of photography, music and film.
Posted by thefty on 15/06/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/driven-creativity-2011-the-approach/
I love London’s Chinatown. I know I probably seem like a clueless tourist lingering in all the Asian supermarkets, asking dumb questions about how to cook rice sticks*, but I can’t help myself! I’m a fan of discovering new food, and I’m an even bigger fan of discovering amazing packaging. Chinatown is a goldmine in both respects. Check it:
1. Oh to be a packaging designer in Japan! It looks like a 24/7 party.
2. Yes. Yes, I do want. (These sweet/salty crackers are the best.)
3. I wouldn’t mind a couple of these either, come to think of it.
4. I’m pretty sure I don’t want this.
5. I don’t like Pooh and friends, but these are too cute to resist.
*It was a good question! Turns out those hefty rice sticks need to be soaked in cold water overnight before being boiled. So, there you go.
Posted by thefty on 09/06/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/top-5-chinatown-snacktime/
These photos were taken in Latchi, a town on the west coast of Cyprus. I’d had a very good fish lunch directly before taking these photos, so I was happy and content. I hope you enjoy them.
1. A jumble of technicolour plastic.
2. Colours, colours everywhere!
3. Test strokes made when painting boats.
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5. Clean lines and fresh paint.
Posted by thefty on 03/06/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/top-5-fishermens-haunts/
My family is from Cyprus, the land of citrus orchards, almond blossoms, and miles and miles of vineyards. I’ve grown up eating Cypriot treats, some of them more obscure than others (see #4). Below are a series of sweet delights you may not have encountered before. If you’re ever in Cyprus, make sure to hunt some down!
1. Candied orange peel preserved in syrup. Not as bitter as you’d imagine.
2. This is soutzoukos, a sweet sausage of sorts, made of thickened grape juice.
3. These are loukoumades, Greek honey puffs served with cinnamon.
4. These are trimithopites: traditional, brittle cookies studded with trimithia*.
5. Wedding sweets! Chewy almond cake and sugared almonds. Traditionally, girls put the sugared almonds under their pillow… in order to dream of their future husband.
* You know something is old-school when you can’t find a proper reference online! My great aunt makes trimithopites, which is why I know what they are. Trimithopita means ‘pie made from trimithia’. Trimithia are crunchy peppercorn-like balls which are baked into the already brittle cookie, giving it an extra crunch. I have no idea how my great aunt manages to eat these, all dentures considered.
Posted by thefty on 24/05/2011
http://top5photos.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/top-5-cypriot-delights/
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