I spent a few years working with the Getty Conservation Institute at Nea Paphos, one of the island’s most important archaeological sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What made it special for me wasn’t just the history, but the time I got to spend there. Day after day, from sunrise to sunset, I was surrounded by mosaics, ruins, and all these traces of past lives.
It was a privilege, not only because I was working with such experienced and inspiring people, but also because I had the chance to really live inside the site for months at a time. I walked the same paths over and over, revisited the same corners, and photographed the same structures again and again. At first it felt repetitive, but slowly I began to notice the small things, shifts in the light, textures in the stone, patterns I hadn’t seen before.
That process taught me something important about photography. Images don’t just come from being in an impressive place or somewhere new, they come from how you see, your mood, your patience. Nea Paphos gave me that lesson, and it’s one I carry with me into every project since.