Galaxidi flour war
by Anat Shushan
As street photographers, we always look for interesting occasions to shoot in, interesting locations, and at some point being in the streets is just not enough anymore. We're getting hungry for action.
On March 2019 I got the amazing opportunity to do just that, feed the hunger. I took an incredible trip with a group of dear friends to central Greece, and the highlight of the trip was the Galaxidi flour war which takes place once a year.
Galaxidi is an adorable small village which throughout the year is very peaceful and not being visited by many tourists. But on the day of the flour war, it's a whole different story!
The tradition of this festival started in the 19th century and indicates the ending of the festival season. In the days when this tradition started, it was prohibited to have celebrations, so the people colored their faces with black coal so that they won't be recognized.
I guess nothing stopped them from celebrating.
And that's how the preparation of the flour war starts. In the memory of those days, hundreds of people are gathered at the village entrance and color their faces blue.
It's like wandering around in a Smurfs village.
Anyone participating in the flour war brings a full body and face cover, which is a hint to what is about to happen. It really did feel like preparing to a battle, only with amazing good atmosphere, colors and costumes.
And then out of nowhere the war started!
It was like a volcanic eruption! Endless amount of flour was thrown all over, on everyone and everything. That outstanding parade went from the village entrance through the narrow streets down to the gorgeous bay. No one escaped from being hit.
Shooting on that day wasn't easy! Although we covered our cameras and ourselves very thoroughly, my camera was hit endless times with flour, not to mention the fact that half the time it's almost impossible to see where you're going. Visually it looked like the end of the world, just like a crazy science fiction movie.
As the parade reached the bay at the end of the village, the party started. It was an incredible mixture of people all covered with flour, crazy costumes, music and a burst of energy I haven't experienced before. It was impossible not to be carried away with it.
The party went on for hours, but unfortunately we had to leave in order to get to our next stop of the trip and we had to take time to clean ourselves and our dear cameras, which surprisingly survived the whole thing. This without a doubt was the most challenging, exciting and unusual photography experience I've had and it fed the hunger for quite some time.
After this, I will never look at flour the same way I did, and neither will my camera.
That whole trip made me, again, so grateful for being a street photographer. The things we see, experience, the places we get to and shoot are truly remarkable and can't be taken for granted.
Street photography opened my eyes and my heart to the world in a way nothing did before. Can't wait to go on my next adventure!
