the miracle
8:01 AM: during my 15 years in greece, i spent a lot of time on the cycladic island of andros, just a few hours by ferry from the port of rafina, which is about an hour from athens. during that period, i made many studies, drawings & paintings of andriots. one day in about 1976, while shooting photos near our house in the plakoura neighborhood of chora, capitol of andros, i encountered a fisherman bringing his days catch to a small taverna on the sea. he told me the story of a miracle that occured when he was a child in asia minor. in one of the first movie theatres at the time, he was watching a kids film with his parents. as frequently happened, there was a problem with the projector and the attendees were asked to leave until the problem could be resolved. once the last person had left the theatre, the theatre, which was a wooden structure, burst into flames and burned to the ground. he and the others attributed their miraculous escape to the virgin, protrectress of their village.
as he told the story, i shot a series of b&w photos, which i later used to make a series of small paintings in oil on canvas mounted on board, collectively titled the miracle. it’s one of the few paintings i made during that period which i have in my private collection.