As part of the Australian Heritage Festival 2021, Marrickville Library will present iconic photographs of the Greek community in Marrickville, taken by Emmanuel Angelicas and curated by Alan Davies.
The photographs have been taken over five decades by Angelicas, who was raised in Marrickville and is a long term resident. They chronicle the changing face of Marrickville and its citizens.
READ MORE: Inner West Mayor says Marrickville is set to formally become ‘Little Greece’.
The stunning monochromatic images are just a taste of the photographer’s archive and show aspects of the Hellenic influence.
By the middle of the twentieth century, Marrickville was a major centre for Greek immigrants, often referred to as ‘Little Athens.’ Over time, shops and businesses with a strong Greek identity became accepted as part of the wider Australian community and enriched the municipality.
READ MORE: Vasilis Vasilas officially launches ‘Little Athens: Marrickville’.
Through these images, older residents will smile with recognition and younger ones can connect with Marrickville’s recent history.
The exhibition is called Marrickville Eikons and will run from May 1 – May 30.
Who is Emmanuel Angelicas?
For fifty years, photographer Emmanuel Angelicas has roamed the streets of Marrickville, recording his neighbourhood in startling black and white images.
His archive of negatives and digital images is huge and this exhibition showcases just a few of his iconic images of the Greek diaspora and their influence on our suburb.
Marrickville’s complex identity owes much to the arrival of Hellenic migrants in the 1950s and 1960s and this is recognised today with the area’s affectionate title of Little Greece.
Emmanuel Angelicas photographs span the generations with poignant images of those early arrivals and their descendants.
As he grew up in Marrickville, he became serious about the medium. He bought better cameras and graduated from the University of NSW with a degree in Visual Communication and postgraduate diploma in Professional Art Studies with further visual arts qualifications from the University of Sydney.
The technology of photography has changed, but Emmanuel continues to record in black and white and is happy to use both film and digital cameras. His attitude to photography has never wavered either.
“Every time I shoot in Marrickville, either in my home or on the street – I am still this seven-year-old boy curious with his camera…”
Source: Inner West Council.
