An extensive survey on Greek women’s costumes during the XXI century. Photographs and text by Michael Pappas
"The Mitos Project started in 2019 and is an ongoing ethnographic tribute that focuses on local costumes throughout Greece. The thread takes on symbolic dimensions and seeks to highlight popular culture and folk art seen in a contemporary context. The natural and cultural environment is the background that is associated with the “costumes” while the protagonists are always the people.
Through this project, it is claimed the promotion of the beauty of the Greek folk culture that concerns both the simplicity and the splendor of the form of clothing as a central theme. The content has a multitude of meanings and is related to the social, historical, economic, and cultural context, to networks of relationships, to struggles, and the construction of identities. In addition, natural space and architecture are dominant elements in the image.
The peculiarity of this photographic work lies in its modern view, through the people who have kept their clothes as heirlooms and pass them on to the next generation while using them on customary and festive occasions spontaneously, updating the mechanisms of tradition as a process. A thread that binds me with my roots."
Greek photographer Michael Pappas is conducting an extensive survey on Greek women s costumes of the 21st century, documenting the evolution of traditional and contemporary styles through photography. The project aims to capture the diversity of women s attire across different regions, exploring how cultural heritage and modern fashion trends coexist in Greece today.
The Mitos Project premiered at the Fragonard Museum in the world’s perfume capital Grasse, France, and is a variation of the ‘Ethos’ exhibition, which was successfully completed at the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, this time focusing on women’s traditional costumes.
His images are being published internationally, including New York
Times, VOGUE, The Guardian, National Geographic,VICE US and more. He is a contributor to KATHIMERINI newspaper and Gastronomos magazine.
