With my passion for documentary photography, I’d love to share one of my recent personal projects.

Greek Easter, growing up, revolved around three key elements for me.

1. Becoming a vegan for 7 days and fasting. I had it easy as you are ment to do it for 40 days.
2. Attending midnight mass on Saturday night, with our candles lit, while eagerly waiting for the fireworks to explode above our heads; or on someones head at times.
3. Throwing the vegan diet out the window on Sunday and eating like I hadn’t eaten for a week. Oh the lamb on the spit and all the other lovely delicacies never tasted so good.

Of all the key dates during Easter, I’ve always gravitated toward the richness of the Good Friday Epitaph Procession. I visited the Greek Orthodox Church in North Balwyn to document the candlelit procession of the epitaph through the streets around the church. Once the epitaph got back to the front steps, the parish priest, Rev. Nicholas Vrettakos, hit the door loudly 3 times.  As my mum explained to me as a kid, this represents Jesus defying death and trampling the gates of Hades to get into heaven. My hat goes off to the eight men who held the epitaph on their shoulders as the congregation passed under it as a sign of respect.

You might still be going through your vast collection of chocolate Easter eggs but take a moment to see thousands of years of orthodox tradition in these photos.

If you see yourself or someone you know in these images, or love the story told,  feel free to share or Like our post.