Sućuraj - Spirit of the Sea

Sućuraj is a Dalmatian fishing villiage on the island of Hvar in Croatia with a residential poplualtion of 250.

“For many centuries the villiage culture remained unchanged. The means of living were fishing and agriculture (olives, grapes and figs). For centuries there was no significant change in people’s quality of life. They lived as their ancestors did. Life was a constant struggle but there was also a strong sense of a supportive community - of family and friends. Life was impoverished and difficult . Only after WWII was there significant change in Sućuraj with the sardine factory, tourism and better transport from mainland” c Veljko Radovniković

This exhibition depicts the old-world Dalmatian culture in a increasingly transitioning, modernised world. The sea in etched into the individual and collective psyche. The Adriatic Sea holds is it, wraps around the island penisular from the north , south and east. While across the sea, the Biokovo mountain range forms a rare, dramatic backdrop with it’s near 6000 ft coastal mountains. (Australia’s Mt Koscuszko is 7310ft). It sits as a constant visual reminder that mainland Europe lies beyond the geological divide from the relative safety before the Adriatic seas.

The photos depict the spirit of Sućuraj, with wisdom-lined faces of sun-weathered skin, the inquisitive nature of childhood , the simplicity of villiage life and the yin and yang of nature’s ‘sea and mountain’ duet.

NB: The exhibition momentarily extends to the closest villiage of Bogomolje

Sućuraj - Spirit of the Sea Cantact Sheet Gallery, Sydney 2015