The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
Jan 2016 back issue
by Dimitri Mellos
This series is a little bit of a medley; unlike most of my other projects or photo essays, for this I attempted to combine
different strands into a coherent and harmonious whole. I usually work on very long-term projects, such as my ongoing
general street work in New York, my project on New York’s ethnic communities, and my Greek landscapes project. I
unfortunately do not have the chance to travel around the world as much as I would have liked, so most of my work is
done in New York City. I have photographed in other places, such as China, Cuba, or Spain, but I have not yet been
able to spend enough time there to have a substantial photo essay from each of these places. So I had the idea of
trying to cull some strong individual images from my travels in other countries and put them together to create a
panorama of spontaneous everyday life scenes from around the world. After all, in many important ways the basics of
life and human emotion are the same everywhere. I thought of the title Urbis et Orbis (of the city and the earth) as it
seemed to be a good description of what this photo essay is about, both in terms of its geographical inclusiveness and
its humanistic spirit.
Braving the waves. El Malecon, Havana, Cuba.
Not a balloon. Old Havana, Cuba.
Near Grevena, northern Greece.
El Malecon, Havana, Cuba.
Greek minority girls in traditional costumes, southern Albania.
Newlyweds on the Waibaidu Bridge, Shanghai, China.
On the waterfront, Havana, Cuba.
Folegandros Island, Greece.
National monument, Shanghai, China.
Watch repairman, Havana, Cuba.
Shanghai, China.
Constitution square, Athens, Greece.
Barcelona, Spain.
China's past and future, Shanghai, China.
On the pier, Sifnos island, Greece.
Red Town park, Shanghai, China.
Behind El Capitolio, Havana, Cuba.
Folk musician, Kastoria, Greece.
Sifnos Island, Greece.
