Ai-Sir, Trabzon, Turkey, August, 2007 KARADENIZ! KARADENIZ! He makes a living driving a bus. For the last 20 years he’s been driving around the coast line of the Black Sea delivering everything from tourists to furniture. I sat with him for 3 days as I journeyed from Greece into Turkey.   He shared his stories of his journey’s in to Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia all those years.   His name is Sofocles and he hails from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. But his roots are from Pontos. He speaks the language fluently but he never ventured in to the mountains of Pontos; but this time, on his first visit into the hills he certainly felt at home.  I can’t tell you all that he said (!2%!*)as I took this photo, but the words that stuck to my head and I will never forget, were, “karadeniz, karadeniz!!!!.  

Ai-Sir, Trabzon, Turkey, August, 2007

KARADENIZ! KARADENIZ!

He makes a living driving a bus. For the last 20 years he’s been driving around the coast line of the Black Sea delivering everything from tourists to furniture. I sat with him for 3 days as I journeyed from Greece into Turkey.   He shared his stories of his journey’s in to Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia all those years.   His name is Sofocles and he hails from the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. But his roots are from Pontos. He speaks the language fluently but he never ventured in to the mountains of Pontos; but this time, on his first visit into the hills he certainly felt at home.  I can’t tell you all that he said (!2%!*)as I took this photo, but the words that stuck to my head and I will never forget, were, “karadeniz, karadeniz!!!!.  


Posted 6 months ago & Filed under personal, personal, black sea, education, editorial,

About:

Philadelphia based photographer specializing in corporate, public relations, event, editorial and portrait photography.

Bio:

Eleftherios Kostans is an award winning freelance photographer based in the Metropolitan Philadelphia area. He is the staff photographer at Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia where he contributes to a variety of publications. Eleftherios worked as a contract photographer with the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 10 years and was a correspondent to Sipa-Press Photo Agency in New York. His work has appeared in a variety of national and international publications such as Newsweek, Time, People, Paris Match, and Wired magazines.

Working closely with academic organizations, foundations, corporations, and publishing groups, he has produced work on such topics as: Senior Citizens & the Pharmaceutical industry, college student diversity, migrant workers and single parents.

Eleftherios Kostans has explored a variety of subjects and locations from around the world. His personal work around the Black Sea and Eastern Europe focus on Hellenism where he has been documenting Hellenic life. He frequently speaks and exhibits his work on Hellenism and has been named an up and coming photographer by the "Greek American News".

Clients:

Contact:

P.O. Box 1336
Media, Pa. 19063
USA

Phone: 610-574-9873

eleftherios.kostans@gmail.com