The Lighthouse Keepers

By Suzanne Révy and Elin Spring

We each carry memories both bitter and sweet from our childhood. The aroma of flowers from a garden, the brilliant light of a summer’s day, a sour taste or the echoes of familiar voices influence our adult selves as the tactile reminders of an ephemeral but fundamental stage of our lives. Can we ever go back? In The Lighthouse Keepers, Yorgos Efthymiadis  returns to his native Greece searching for the people and places that nurtured him, and to make photographs that probe the essence and meaning of his young life. His salon-style solo exhibition is currently on view at Gallery Kayafas in Boston through March 30th, 2024. 

“Set 11: Vangelis O” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers on view at Gallery Kayafas, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

Employing a soft, sun-kissed palette, Efthymiadis gathers four to six pictures together in arrays that communicate the tastes, smells and sights of his native land. Each grouping features a person and possesses ruminating dialogs between portrait and place, entrances and exits, secrets and regrets. The resonance of every array stands on the individual strength of each image.

“Set 3: Christos S. and Stelios Z” by Yorgos Efthymiadis from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers on view at Gallery Kayafast, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

“Stelios Z” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Icons” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Christos S” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Standing in a doorwary, “Stelios Z” turns away from the camera, his gesture mirrored in the cracked stucco to his side which also parallels the religious iconography displayed on the blue wall in an adjacent photograph. This array features pictures of a small house overwhelmed by a concrete structure, a closed yellow door and the hands of “Christos S” illuminating an image of the Virgin Mary in a slant of light. Five pictures contemplating the tension between ruin and renewal. 

“Set 2: Yorgos Z” by Yorgos Efthymiadis from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers on view at Gallery Kayafas, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

“Yorgos Z” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Akalyptos A” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2023, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

“Trumpets” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2023, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

In another grouping, “Yorgos Z” looks down, his face obscured by a series of out of focus bars which echo the striations of an abstracted wall and the traces of a razed home on the wall of a still-standing neighbor’s house. The collection is softened by foliage and trumpet flowers that suggest nature’s and humanity’s eternal presences. Other groupings include meditations and reflections between oceans and structures, flowers and chairs, kitchens and doors, or classical art and mirrors. The slight shifts in view between three windows on three different floors of a building offer an alluring glimpse of dusk. Layered with meaning, viewers will find the eye meanders between each picture, discovering evocative details that pierce the soul, arouse an awareness of the senses or open narrative possibilities.

“Set 5: Christos E” by Yorgos Efthymiadis from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers on view at Gallery Kayafas, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

“Dollhouse” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.

Throughout the exhibition, Efthymiadis’ use of light bestows a spiritual and psychological ethos that feels nostalgic without becoming saccharine. The warm embrace of the Greek sun is a welcome comfort. And there is room to contemplate my own childhood memories, I can smell the ocean air. Efthymiadis regards each of his subjects as “a lighthouse keeper. Strong and resilient, fragile and tender, always there to help, guiding each other through life, and reminding me of where I belong.” Stirring and enigmatic, his image assemblages resonate with enduring connections.

“Set 11: Maria O & Fotini” by Yorgos Efthymiadis from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers on view at Gallery Kayafas. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

For more information: https://www.gallerykayafas.com

Feature Image: “Maria O” by Yorgos Efthymiadis, 2019, from the exhibition The Lighthouse Keepers, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.