STEVE RAZZETTI MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY AND JOURNALISM

BBC - MYTHS AND HEROES: JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE

"The only sea voyaging ship to have sailed there is Argo - a story which everyone knows - on her voyage from Aietes. She would have shattered on the great rocks but Hera escorted her through, since Jason was dear to her" 

Homer - The Odyssey 

 

Our journey making the third film in the "In Search of Myths and Heroes" series took us from Greece, through the Bosphorus and by Istanbul to the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Finally we crossed into Georgia, in search of Colchis... 

  • The railway stationNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Greek archaeologists at the site of a late Bronze Age palace excavated in 1997 just inland from the Gulf of Volos at DiminiNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A Greek archaeologist shows one of many Bronze Age artifacts recovered during the 1997 excavationsNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • In a huge marquee at Pagasae (Iolkos), enthusiasts are re-building the Argos in its original form. Here, they show presenter Michael Wood a model of what the finished vessel will look likeNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Adzing the enormous timbers that will form the keel of the ship at PagasaeNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Adzing the keel timbers at Pagasae, GreeceNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Using pulleys and chains to bend the soaked timbers of the ships keel into shape.Pagasae, Nr Volos, GreeceNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • These men intend to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to sail from Iolkos, through the Bosphorus and along the Black Sea coast to Georgia in exactly the same type of boat as Jason. Here they pose on the quay at Pagasae after a day's work on their project.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Callum, originally from New Zealand, recorded the sound for the Jason filmNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Shells plastered over the decaying hull of a more modern ship Nikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Detail of the rotting hull of an old freighterNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The old Turkish harbour and fortNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Fishing nets on the breakwater of the old Turkish harbourNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Reflections in the old Turkish harbourNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A fishing boat in the old Turkish harbourNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Foliage in the forestNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Sign at the Neolithic / Bronze Age siteNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The Sanctuary of the Great GodsNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Michael Wood in the Sanctuary of the Great GodsNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The harbour at KamariotissaNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The Sanctuary of the Great GodsNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The village of KamariotissaNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • From the sea during our voyage from Pagasae (Volos) to Vassilika / EvviaNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The sun dips towards the horizon behind a bank of cloud - taken from near Hopa, Eastern AnatoliaNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Sunset from the coast, east of GirasunNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Kafkasor Festival at Artvin is an annual event, held in the last week of June. The highlight is undoubtedly the famous bull-wrestling tournament...Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Crowds watching the bull-wrestling during the annual Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • An owner watches his bull during the wrestling tournament at the Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • An owner watches his bull during the wrestling tournament at the Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Owners watching their bulls during the wrestling tournament at the annual Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Bull wrestling at the annual Kafkasor Festival.Careful regulation of each bout (bulls are matched by weight and neck-girth) ensures that no harm comes to the animals. As soon as one of the contestants shows any signs of submission or weakness, he is declared the loser and led away by officialsNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The Kafkasor Festival. Victorious in his wrestling class, this bull is doing a lap of honour with his owner and supportersNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Victory celebrations after the bull-wrestling tournament at the Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The crowd at the Kafkasor Festival, watching the bull-wrestlingNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Dancing during an interval in the bull-wrestling tournament at the Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Watching the bull-wrestling at the Kafkasor FestivalNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • girasun_sunset02
  • A night view of this beautiful Ottoman buildingNikon F5, Fuji Velvia, 180mm
  • From a ferry on the Bosphorus, the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) dominates the skyline of the fabulous city of Istanbul. Completed in 1616, the historical context can be set by remembering that the nearby Hagia Sophia was already almost a thousand years old at that time!Nikon F5, Fuji Velvia, 17 - 35mm
  • Restored 9th century mosaic Nikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The MihrabNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • 10th Century (Byzantine) mosaic - Theotokos (Virgin Mother and Child) - in the ApseNikon F5, 50mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Tea seller outside the Aya SofyaNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Inland at dawn from this Black Sea coastal town, between Batumi and PotiNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Clouds at sunriseNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Statue of protective divinity (La Virgen del Carmen?) overlooking the harbourNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The village baker proudly displays his produceNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Okan Bahadir, the village blacksmith at workNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The Greek Orthodox monastery of the Virgin Mary at Sumela, near Trabzon. Founded in Byzantine times and abandoned in 1923Nikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • 9th Century frescoe in the main chapelNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • 9th Century frescoes in the main chapel, which is hewn out of a cave in the rockNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Frescoes in the main chapelNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Members of the Pontic Greek community. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A members of the Pontic Greek community. Today there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Am elderly member of the Pontic Greek community. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Members of the Pontic Greek community. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A member of the Pontic Greek community. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A member of the Pontic Greek community. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Members of the Pontic Greek community dancing together in the village square. Accompanying them, a musician plays his lyra. The lyra of the Greeks of Pontos (Black Sea region of Asia Minor) is also known as the Kementse. It is played like a violin with a primitive style bow, but the held in an upright position. When seated like this, the instrument is rested on the knee, but when standing or dancing it is held out in front of the player. The lyra usually has three strings. Today, there are - miraculously - still Greeks living here, after what went on at the end of the first World War and all its horrors. Read {quote}Birds Without Wings{quote} by Louis de Bernieres to find out more!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A Pontic Greek musician accompanying his dancing friends on a lyra.  The lyra of the Greeks of Pontos (Black Sea region of Asia Minor) is also known as the Kementse. It is played like a violin with a primitive style bow, but the musicians hold the lyra in an upright position. Sometimes they rest the instrument on their knee when they are sitting, and sometimes it is held out in front of them. They sometimes even dance in front of the dancers while holding the lyra in that way. The lyra usually has three strings. Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Matvi Pavlidi, patriarch of one of the few remaining Greek families living in this once prosperous village. Dagva lies inland from Batumi, in lush, rolling hill-country. This man's grandfather, sensing impending doom, moved his family to Georgia from Anatolia in Turkey before the first world war. Stalin then deported the Greeks of Georgia en-masse to Central Asia in the 1920's. On the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, many came back. Facing yet more strife in modern day Georgia, many have recently moved back to Greece. 20 years ago there were 2500 Greeks in Dagva. Today there are 120. In Georgia they are known as {quote}Rumka{quote}.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Grave of a Greek soldier from the village, killed during WW2.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Galina Kotidi and her sons Georgis and Jannis - the daughter and grandsons of Matvi Pavlidi  in picture 61. He said {quote}We have no country of our own. We are like a pile of leaves, blown by the wind. We are the children of Greece, but our great civilization is a broken mirror and we are one of the pieces{quote}Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Valentina Krapchetova-Savvoulidi, president of the Batumi Pontic Greek Association, shares memories with Paresi Pavlidi and her family. They are one of the few remaining Greek families in this once thriving community.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A tobacconist kiosk in this nascent resort town between Batumi and Poti on the Black Sea coast.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Mestia is the principal town in the Svaneti valley - a de facto autonomous fiefdom in the Caucasus mountains.Nikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • After Elbrus, Ushba (4710m) is perhaps the best known of all the Caucasus peaks, and stands sentinel over the verdant farmland and forests of Svaneti.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A group of men singing ancient, traditional songs in one of the fortified houses. Many of their songs date back to the pre-Christian, pagan era. They are sung polyphonically, producing and effect so beautiful, powerful and moving that this photographer was reduced to tears.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Islam Pilpani,  leader and conductor of a group of men in this village who have dedicated themselves to learning and keeping alive the ancient tradition of polyphonic singing.  Svaneti's traditions are perhaps the oldest and most traditional in Georgia due to the region's isolation. Svan harmonies are irregular and angular, and the middle voice leads the supporting vocals, all within a narrow range.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A member of the village's traditional polyphonic male-voice choir, in full Georgian national costume.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • A member of the village's traditional polyphonic male-voice choir, in full Georgian national costume.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • The polyphonic singers of Svaneti, at a supra, or toasting feast, in one of the oldest fortified houses in the village. Not partaking of their fierce home-distilled raki is not an option!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Children at Mestia villageNikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Panning for gold on the Svaneti river. Svaneti has been famous for its mineral wealth for several thousand years, and the use of  a sheep's fleece by gold panners is by no means unique to the Caucasus. Is this behind the myth of the golden fleece?Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Svaneti is a strange and beautiful place. Even in vehicles with diplomatic plates, our safety here could not be guaranteed unless we were invited into the valley and escorted at all times by an eminent  local family. The generous hospitality shown to visitors here is legendary, but finding out that Vachtang had an Uzi under the seat of his jeep did little to reassure us!Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Seen here from the forests above Mestia, the distinctive twin summits of this beautiful peak present an unforgettable vista.Nikon F5, 180mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • An ancient pagan symbol, the ram's head is still to be found carved into doors in the older houses in Svaneti. Ushguli is the highest village in the valley.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Upper Svaneti may be a UNESCO World Heritage site on account of its thousand year-old fortified houses and the murals in it similarly ancient churches, but many are being tragically neglected.Nikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • In the Georgian Orthodox chapelNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Mural in the Georgian Orthodox chapelNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Workers excavating the site of ancient Vani. Situated at the confluence of the Sulori and Rioni (ancient Phasis) rivers, this city was occupied between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, and archaeologists have been working here since 1947. The current project is run by Dr. Darejan Kacharava of the Centre for Archaeological Studies, Georgian Academy of Sciences, TbilisiNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Worker at  the archaeological site of ancient Vani. Situated at the confluence of the Sulori and Rioni (ancient Phasis) rivers, this city was occupied between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, and archaeologists have been working here since 1947. The current project is run by Dr. Darejan Kacharava of the Centre for Archaeological Studies, Georgian Academy of Sciences, TbilisiNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
  • Workers excavating the site of ancient Vani. Situated at the confluence of the Sulori and Rioni (ancient Phasis) rivers, this city was occupied between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, and archaeologists have been working here since 1947. The current project is run by Dr. Darejan Kacharava of the Centre for Archaeological Studies, Georgian Academy of Sciences, TbilisiNikon F5, 17-35mm, Fuji Velvia 100
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