Two More Shots From The Silver Lake Dunes.

Two more shots from the Silver Lake Dunes.

Last month my twin brother, friend, and I took a three week trip to Istanbul, Greece, and England. I took the majority of my photographs with a Minolta on 35mm film. These shots are from the first several days we spent in Greece (Athens and the Peloponnese) at the beginning of the trip. As someone whose great-grandparents immigrated from the Peloponnese, it was very special to finally visit Greece, communicate a bit in the language, and get to see their tiny mountain village. More photos from Greece and info on each can be found on my Flickr.

This draft is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with.  The images come from a 1970's Greek cookbook we had in the house growing up.

Though I prefer the first photograph, I never felt quite right about the text placement, so I created a second version. This one reads stronger to me and is more similar visually to the version I made for Tokyo in the spring.

Zachary Trebellas. Ποιος θα μπορούσε να είμαι στη Θεσσαλονίκη; (Who could I be in Thessaloniki?). Text on 35mm photograph. 2015. In August I spent three weeks in Europe with my friend Shareen and my twin brother Miles. Ten of those days we spent traveling around Greece. As Greek-Americans, he and I were very curious to see the country we’d related to in various ways for our entire lives. As I expected, it was full of foreign and new experiences, but some familiar ones as well. I was happy to be able to see so much of the country and finally experience it first hand. At the same time, I knew ten days would be only a taste of Greek life. Like I did with Japan, I long to spend more time in Greece to get to know it as a place and culture, and to build my own Greek experiences and memories. I wonder when, down the road, I’ll be able to make that happen. Thessaloniki, Greece’s artistic capital and second city, is where I’d want to have that experience. I hope in the future I’m able to.

—— This piece is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with.

Zachary Trebellas. Pass/Watasu. Scanogram. 2015.

This is one piece of several pieces I’m working on that focus on the Japanese habits that have replaced my American ones. In Japan it’s expected that you’ll turn an item around so that it faces the other person before passing it to them with two hands. I’ve taken to rotating objects and passing them by hand in the States, though using two hands always seemed like a bit too much. —— This is part of the series I’m working on, Nippo Greco American, exploring my relationship with the three ethnic groups I in some way identify with.

My current job is being partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The graphic novel I’m currently reading is funded in part by the Canada Council for the Arts. Here’s what those budgets looks like in comparison to each other and to military spending.

US arts funding per person in 2014: 45¢ Canadian arts funding per person in 2014: $4.08

US military funding per person in 2014: $1,945 Canadian military funding per person in 2014: $455

The US government gave more money to the arts in 1979 when the population was 225 million than it does now when our population is 318 million. I wish things were different.