Effy Alexakis: A symposium celebrating the work of the Greek-Australian photographer

Effy Alexakis, Photographer: A Celebration of Her Work, is an event that looks upon Alexakis's work in photography, but also her passion about recording and preserving the history of Greeks in Australia. The event is part of the Greek Festival of Sydney.

Source: Supplied

The symposium came about as the result of a partnership between Effy Alexakis and the newspaper ''O Kosmos''. This partnership took the form of a special magazine regarding Alexakis's work in photography. It was then later decided that something similar should be done as a part of the Greek Festival of Sydney. The event is a symposium, to be attended among others by academics and writers,while also open to any who reserve on time. At the time of writing this, seats seem to have sold out.

Among the participants will be journalist and UTS lecturer Hellen Vatsikopoulos, writer Angelo Loukakis and Rhonda Davis, Senior curator of the Macquarie University art gallery. The event includes a Q&A, a presentation with selected photos of Alexakis's work after which she will engage in discussion with the participants.

''It is very exciting and I feel very honored'' said Effy Alexakis to SBS Greek.

Documenting the history of Greek Australians

Alexakis has been a professional photographer for several decades, and  during this time has been combing her skills with historian Leonard Janiszewski for a specific task: Recording and documenting the history of Greeks in Australia. 

''I don't see this project ending. There is so much that can be documented about Greeks in Australia'' she noted.

The Popular Cafe, Cootamundra, NSW, 1952. Photo courtesy E. Dascarolis, from the 'In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians' National Project Archives Source: Facebook/E. Dascarolis/'In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians' National Project Archives

Her passion for the history of Greek Australians is linked to her father, who migrated to Australia in 1954, and his sudden death in 1983. 

''His death made me reconsider how I see myself as an Australian, and it cemented the future that we would not return to Greece''. That was when she became interested in documenting the lives of other Greeks nation-wide. 

Another push towards that direction came when Leonard Janiszewski discovered the names of several Greeks who came in Australia during the gold rush in the 1850s, something that surprised her.

''Growing up, we were never told that Greeks had come to Australia so early. So we decided to combine his history with my photography and that has kept us enthralled for the past 40 years''. 

To date, Alexakis and Janiszewski have co-authored 3 books about Greek Australians with a fourth one on the way.

Alexander C. Freeleagus, Honorary Consul General of Greece in Queensland, in front of a portrait of his father Brisbane, Qld, 2000 Source: Facebook/Effy Alexakis/ 'In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians' National Project Archives, Macquarie University, Sydney

Effy Alexakis is a photographer with a career that spans decades. She has worked in Macquarie university, collaborated with businesses and taken photographs in archaeological dig sites in Egypt. 

Effy Alexakis, Photographer: A Celebration of Her Work is part of the Greek Festival of Sydney.

Legend Café – espresso bar section Bourke Street, Melbourne, Vic., c. 1956 Source: Facebook/I. A. Nicolades and L. French/ 'In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians' National Project Archives, Macquarie University, Sydney