With all the horrible news and photos presented to the public over the past year of the desperate dilemma facing immigrants trying to escape war or poverty, this photo by professional photographer Lefteris Partsalis is a welcome relief. The photo, taken in Mytilini Lesbos and its accompanying story, has gone “viral” around the internet and it is easy to see why.
The caption was “Three elderly women feed a migrant child at the island of Lesbos, Greece on October 17, 2015. The photographer later added “Three grandmothers ξαποστεναν while a woman in front of them was trying to feed her baby as it cried incessantly. The grandmothers, speaking in the dialect of Lesbos, asked her for the baby. From their gestures the mother understood and handed the baby to them”.
I, (Tom) might add that the elderly women, perhaps in their 90s, might well have been refugees in the 1923 population exchange and, if so, quite possibly at the same age as the baby they are feeding.
This is a great photo simply by its content but also highlighted by the contrast of muted tones with the vibrant hues of the mother’s clothing, and the contrasts of old/young, endings/beginnings, past/future etc.
Great image, but here’s the real picture http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34585088
What did they say? More to add to the post? Thanks.
Heard the story on radio Proto Programma this morning Tom.
Classic picture – reflects the warmth that we, as visitors, feel when we visit Skopelos and the islands.
Kostas (?), on his blog “KeepTalkingGreece”, has his own take on the photo here…