George Petrou and his daughter travel around Australia capturing the stories of war veterans

·

Cypriot-Australian artist, George Petrou, and his daughter Grace are currently travelling around Australia with his iconic portraits of Australian war veterans.

Their aim is to photograph the relatives of these war veterans and along the way, document the courageous stories of survival for Petrou’s new book ‘The Art of Sacrifice,’ which is due to be released in March 2021.

“I have about 80 military portraits that I’ve done and what I wanted to do was connect people to those portraits. I’ve met alot of relatives, grandsons, granddaughters, uncles and aunties of war veterans through my travels, and my daughter and I decided to photograph these family members and get them to write a small part of the story of the subject I’ve painted,” Petrou tells The Greek Herald exclusively.

Cypriot-Australian artist, George Petrou, is well known for his portraits of Australian war veterans.

“Overall, we’re going to photograph about 50 people, with 50 different backgrounds, in one week. It’s a time-consuming project but worth it in the end. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Time-consuming is one way to put it. Petrou says he and his daughter don’t only plan to travel within his hometown of Melbourne, but they are also travelling all the way down to Sydney.

“Our very first stop is Corryong, then we’re going to Aubury to photograph the son of Victoria Cross recipient, Albert Borella, from WWI. His son is still alive, so we will photograph his family – there’s about five of them,” Petrou says.

“From there we are going to Canberra where we are taking about five shots at the War Memorial. Followed by Nowra, the Sydney ANZAC Memorial and then back Melbourne. When the borders reopen we will head to Brisbane and Adelaide as well.”

It’s clear that Petrou will not let anything get in the way of his dream to share the extensive history of Australia’s war veterans.

“I’m very passionate about discovering all these stories and my new book is the perfect opportunity for me to reconnect with people I’ve met on my travels. I’m excited to showcase my findings to the world soon.”

More information on George Petrou’s new book ‘The Art of Sacrifice’ will be released soon.

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Spurs sack Ange Postecoglou despite Europa League glory

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that Ange Postecoglou will not continue as manager next season, despite ending the club’s 17-year trophy drought with a Europa...

Meet TIFFANY: The Greek Australian artist making waves in RnB

Are you looking for your new favourite Greek artist who combines unique sounds of RnB, house and EDM music?

Heirs of a Greek inheritance: Most common problems to deal with

There are many people of Greek descent all over the world whose parents or other close relatives had properties in Greece.

Niki Louca shares her family favourite Indokaridopita (coconut cake) recipe

It is a cake her aunty Panayiota used to make often in years gone by, and one she hasn’t had for a long time.

Naz Vardar to give Melbourne seminar on shaping Vlach identity

The focus lies on the story of a Vlach priest navigating his way within the local Vlach community in Manastir (Bitola).

You May Also Like

Turkey fabricating “fake news” about mistreatment of refugees, Petsas says

Greece has denied claims by Turkey that it fired live ammunition at refugees and migrants on their shared border, with several allegedly injured and one later dying.

‘It’s a big deal’: Greek Australians triumph in the Inner West Local Business Awards

Many Greek-owned businesses and individuals have won in their respective categories at the Inner West Local Business Awards this year.

Cyprus Community of NSW committed to working with Inner West Council on rezoning plan

The Cyprus Community of NSW have committed to working with the Inner West Council to progress their rezoning plan for The Cyprus Club.