Poster Activism - Greek economic crisis

Can you help?

Once again I am passing round the begging bowl in order to ask for your help, whoever you may be. I have run up against the limitations of the photographic equipment I have and while my Olympus E-450 is just fine for daytime shots, it's ability to take pictures at night or in low light situation is severely limited, meaning I either use flash (never a safe move in any tense situations) or put my camera down.

Now I have the chance to buy a used Canon ESO 40D from a friend for 300E, but that's more than I can get together in at the moment, for reasons that are obvious for anyone following the economic crisis in Greece.

To tell you the truth I feel terrible about asking for help again as I've done so in the past and was overwhelmed by people's generosity. Also when I look around the city and see the real want on display, spending money on something as frivolous as a camera seems somehow wrong. But yet I am asking for your assistance.

If you feel you can help please visit my Paypal account. using cpwefl2003@hotmail.com

Taking a break

Lydia, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I though I would take time out from the usual stories of doom and gloom and write about something more pleasant. Since, believe it or not the life goes on much as it usually does here in Greece despite all that you may read on this blog or in the newspapers. people work, laugh, fall in love have fun and the like.

Me and Lydia went to a concert a few days ago in the centre of Thessaloniki organised by a soft - drinks company. It was an example of naked self - promotion but despite that I have to admit it was fun. Being surrounded by so many people have such a great time was infectious and any excuse to forget our troubles is always welcome. Lydia was enthralled by it all and along with half the audience decided to record the event on her mobile. I swear Aristotelous square was a sea of cameras and cell phones.

In addition I finally learnt to do something that I have been meaning to get round to for ages and so with some trepidation I set about learning how to make bread. Much to my surprise the whole procedure was a lot less demanding than I had imagined. Buoyed by success with my first attempt I decided to try my luck again, this time with Lydia's assistance. And once again something emerged from the oven that not only resembled a loaf of bread but also tasted a lot like it as well.

What a week

What a week. Sometimes things come so thick and fast that it's hard to keep track of it all. So in no particular order I'll let you in on what as been happening so far. Last Saturday I was part of the premier of the documentary, Enraged December and even got to see my name in the credits which, frankly is something I never, ever thought I'd see in this lifetime, nor the next few ones either.

Later in the week I covered A Ship To Gaza benefit concert, several demos and protests, a conference on blogging and journalism, got my first photographic assignment from a newspaper, designed a poster, got asked for an interview by the local newspaper, got name checked by a photography institution, got linked to by the Guardian and by the way put in full week's work as a teacher. Well, someone has to pay the bills.

I'll update this post with the appropriate links when I get time, till then have a great weekend.

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

Seven weeks after having all my camera equipment stolen (see here for more details) I finally have got a replacement for the camera I lost. This is thanks to all the people who contributed financially via the internet and made it possible for me to do so. One of the good things to come out of the incident was the offers of help and support that flooded in via Twitter, Flickr and the blog, giving me hope when I was in a dark place and feeling very depressed.

I would also like to thank those who made it possible for me to contine taking pictures even when I had no camera of my own. Without the help of Eleni. Asteris, Orhan and D. H. Morton the last seven weeks would have been a photograph free zone on this blog.

550 euro was donated via Tipit and the 40 euros via Paypal. Of that 33 euros (6%) was deducted by Tipit for commission and I tipped them 20 euros. Unfortunately, there were several delays in getting the money to Greece hence the fact that only recently got it. The rest I borrowed from friends.

Publish Post

So now I'm the proud owner of a Nikon D90 DSLR with an 18-105mm lens which cost 899 euros. Also I replaced my stolen Toshiba T10 flipcam with a Traveller camcorder which cost 99 euros.

So, once again thank you for all your help.

An appeal for help

Following many offers of help I have decided to set up a TipIt account (see here for more details on who they are) If you feel that you'd like to help me replace the camera equipment that was stolen and so allow me to continue photographing and reporting what's happening here in Greece please feel free to contribute.

For examples of my work check out these sites;

Demotix

Nowpublic

Flickr

Youtube

For any any more questions of how Tipit works check out their FAQ page. I chose them as they were being used by the arrestblair.org site and so seem legit.

Alternatively, you can contribute via Paypal using this email - cpwefl2003@hotmail.com

Thanking everyone in advance.

Craig

The Next Day

The day after. Can't say that I slept well last night. Woke up at 5am with a terrible sense of loss. At first I thought it was just the bitter aftertaste of a bad dream only to realise that I wasn't dreaming about what I had lost.

Yesterday somebody stole much of what I treasure most in terms of material possessions. My camera, lens, video and various assorted knicknacks just disappeared whilst in was drinking coffee in Starbucks. Of course, this is just stuff, nothing that can't be replaced. The objects were not unique in themselves, indeed the only thing that made them special were that they belonged to me.

On the other hand the represented far more than just a bunch of lenses and chips, they were part and parcel of what has kept me sane over the last few years when the rest of my life seemed to lurch from one crisis to another and offered a way of not letting it all get too much.

I always thought that something would happen to my camera but I reckoned that would involve being in the wrong place and time in some riot or protest. Or that it would be confiscated by the authorities to enter a legal limbo from which it would only emerge years later.

After coming through riots, confrontations, beatings, road accidents unscathed and all kinds of other abuse while in my backpack it seems so wrong that I should lose this stuff in something so stupid a manner.

Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of help and sympathy. They have all been most appreciated.

Lydia by Dude

Lydia by Dude, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Dude by Lydia

The Golden Rule - He who has the gold makes the rules.

The Golden Rule - He who has the gold makes the rules., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Poster activism - Never leave home without it.

Surveillance and Repression in the Modern World

Surveillance and Repression in the Modern World, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

The best book I never wrote.

Introduction to Economic Analysis - T. Dude

Introduction to Economic Analysis - T. Dude, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Yo! Dude. Is that you?

Yo! Dude. Is that you?, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis greets Teacher Dude after a party rally in Thessaloniki.

Social media and the Greek elections 2009

Greek elections 2007, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

It should be interesting to see what, if any impact social media will have on the coming national elections here in Greece. Of course the decision to call elections at such short notice has caught many on the hop but I shall be keeping an eye out for what is happening on the Greek language blogosphere and other outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

I think there is the dawning realisation that the internet will become more important in the future as far as getting the message out to voters is concerned but still the kind of web based electioneering we saw in the last US presidential campaign is still far off. Use of the internet remain low and those in charge of the political parties' campaigns continue to put their faith in more traditional media channels such as TV, radio and newspapers, which will get the lion's share of the millions that are going to be spent in the next three weeks.

On the other hand all parties have got a significant presence on the internet and are slowly starting to exploit platforms such as blogs, though these still tend to be just places to display material produced for other sources. I don't see much evidence of grass roots use of such tools to get voters out or co-ordinate activism.

I shall be following events with my camera as the various parties roll through Thessaloniki and give press conferences and organise rallies.

Looking back

I was just thinking what I've been up too over the last couple of weeks and it seems to mount up. Went on some demos, got tear gassed, chased by the riot police, stopped by the regular ones, gatecrashed a far right press conference, took pictures of the communist party leader, designed posters, wrote articles, continued an ongoing photography project, did my lessons, got interviewed by the BBC World Service, attended a party, spent time with my daughter, made a video, read some books and of course blogged about it all. Don't you just hate it when you get stuck in a rut?

Dude by Dude

Dude on Dude, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Social media και creative media (πολυμεσικά Μέσα), στην υπηρεσία του ακτιβισμού και της δημοσιογραφίας

Θα μιλήσουν οι:

Αστέρης Μασούρας (ακτιβιστής, blogger, φωτο-δημοσιογράφος)

Craig Wherlock (πολίτης δημοσιογράφος, φωτο-δημοσιογράφος, καθηγητής αγγλικών)

ΠΟΤΕ: Στις 27/5/2009 και ώρα 17:45

ΠΟΥ: Στο Τμήμα Δημοσιογραφίας και Μ.Μ.Ε. Α.Π.Θ.
Εγνατίας 46, Αίθουσα 4Α

Στο πλαίσιο του μαθήματος της Ε. Δεληγιάννη: Blogs και Νέα Μέσα: Νομικά ζητήματα, ηθική-δεοντολογία.

Tomorrow I will be giving a short talk on the uses of social media to students from the department of journalism at the Aristotelion university of Thessaloniki at 5.45pm - Egnatia 46, Room 4a. Feel free to pop by if you want. Also Asterios Masouras (Oneiros.gr) will be talking on the same subject. The event is part of the lesson, Blogs and the New Media: legal matters and ethics organised by professor Elsa Delagianni.

Teacher Dude in motion

Teacher Dude in motion
Originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ

Photography

The stories behind the pictures

I thought I'd try a variation on a theme and talk about some of my favourite pictures from 2008 using Voice Thread, which allows you to provide an online narrative to accompany your photos.



And here is 2007 in pictures as well. What a difference a year makes. Looking back I feel that these images belong to a different decade from my life or something I read about when I was much younger. I think that if I didn't have these photgraphs I wouldn't believe what has happened.

2008 in pictures

I thought I'd continue with an idea I had last December - my year in photographs, one for each month. It's a way of looking back over 2008 and taking stock of what has been happening in my life.

January

I had an hour to kill between lessons and for some reason I decided to see where the Fates would take me and I came across a huge warehouse complex that had been abandoned even before it had been finished. Trudging through the mud and dumped rubbish I took a lot of very boring pictures then noticing the time decided I had better make tracks if I wanted to be in school on time.

Just as was about to leave I saw this woman walking in my direction. I don't know why but something in me said that there was a good picture in this so I kept my camera turned on and went to my Vespa. Sure enough, she approached me and asked me to give her two Euros to buy heating oil.

February

A wave of 24 hour general strikes hit the country as many people decided that plans to change the present pension scheme were unacceptable. Amidst more scandals the Greek government tried desperately to persuade people that such an overhaul was necessary.

March

The strikes and protests continued into March and at the other end of the political spectrum there were ultra - nationalist gatherings that were attended by high ranking members of the church and politicians in search of an issue to get them back into the media spotlight. A frightening mix of V for Vendetta and Nuremburg rally.

The Olympic flame also came to town on its way to China, protected, it seemed by everyone with a badge and a club the local authorities could find. The month also saw me take up citizen journalism as I started to contribute to NowPublic.com, in doing so I was learning a whole new raft of skills concerning how to research and write news articles. Skills that would stand me in good stead later on in the year.

April

April meant Easter, holidays, lamb to excess and relaxation after a very long term lasting 17 weeks. In addition I had the chance to go to exhibitions such as the one by Duane Michals, the American photographer whose retrospective was on show in the museum of photography here in Thessaloniki.

May

More strikes, more scandals, the government fighting for its political life. May brought more of the same. I also wrote about and photographed members of G700 generation who would play such a decisive role in the protests in December.

June

This was taken during a demonstration by local ecological groups to raise awareness of the problems caused by excessive car use in the city. The original idea was for the participants to ride their bicycles naked through the centre. However, the local authorities nixed that idea and the police said that anyone not wearing clothes would be arrested for indecent exposure.

So as to comply with these demands the cyclist compromised and wore beachwear and body paint so that less flesh was on display than your average Saturday at the seaside. Despite this the police still insisted on confronting the 100 or so peaceful protesters with the kind of tactics and manpower usually associated with football riots. After clashes and arrests the people were allowed to continue.

July

Leaving one of the hottest summers on record I went to England to enjoy one of the wettest. It was a time to relax and see my family again. Lydia had a chance to see my side of the family and taste the delights of English cuisine!!!!

August

Instead of demos, marches and clashes, I photographed festivals, concerts and street life. In the beginning I was more apprehensive about doing this but I quickly overcame my inhibitions. Later on I also managed to see other sides to life in England which are not so obvious to the casual visitor. Poverty, drug use, violence and the like were also there, if you cared to look just a little deeper.

September

Back to the heat in every sense of the word. The temperatures remained high and s the annual trade fair approached the city became the centre of political and media attention.As a result there were marches, strikes and clashes with the police. I managed also to write about the Vatopedi graft scandal and get pictures of many of the major players in Greek political life as they pressed flesh and kissed babies.

October

October proved to be a busy month with lots to write about and photograph. Hundred of high schools under occupation, mass protests, conference on blogging and media, more - run ins with the cops over the right to take photographs meant I was rushed off my feet.

November

The city had its shot of glamour as the film festival opened and movie types from all over the world came to ply their wares. I managed to wangle my way into many of the gigs even though I couldn't get an official invite. Never mind its more fun that way.

December

December proved to be one of the most intense periods of my life on so many levels. The riots and protests that followed the death of 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos sparked off a maelstrom of anger that lasted for weeks. I tried to follow the events here in Thessaloniki in order to explain what was happening to the outside world. As a result I found myself being interviewed by CNN, BBC, Sky News and a host of other new outlets from all over the world.


Looking back now over the year it seems that the events of the last few weeks were not so unexpected after all. Although the intensity and duration of the protests took everyone by surprise the roots of the problem were obvious to anyone who was willing to look. Frustration with the hopeless job market, rising prices, disgust with corruption and incompetence in the political system, a sense of injustice generated by endless cases of police violence meant the causes of the revolts have been there in plain sight for a long time.

Unfortunately, none of those ills are about to change soon. Those with their hands on the leverages of political and economic power are not about to give up their privileges any time soon. Nor, given the growing economic crisis will they be in a position to buy off protest in the form of sham jobs in the civil service.