My name is Peter Webscott, and I write and take photographs. This blog is a record of some of my travels in words and pictures, and related stories. I am a Russian speaker and long-standing student of its literature and history.
Just four years ago (who did I leave it so long?) I went to Greece for the very first time and fell in love with the country. So now I’m learning Greek and am also very interested in Greek life and culture.
And I blog about anything else that I feel like from time to time.
wordscene 
Peter, good to see your blog! And thank you very much for following my blog – I hope you’ll enjoy my images. Adrian
Thanks Adrian. I’ve been looking at your blog and think you take some fine pictures.
Re: Learning Greek.
Try Bob Sfougarakis in Greek http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKXDuWD-Nm4 or old Greek Films like Finos Films or this film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC8aN14a_-4
Hi Rona,
Many thanks for your comment and suggestions. I like the look of Small Crime – I need to find and find the full version. I also really need films with the subtitles. I have tried Finos’s A greek woman in the harem, but the dialogue is so fast It’s very hard to catch.
How did (do) you learn Greek?
Kind regards,
Peter
Nice to meet you) Thanks for stopping by)
Hello Peter, I just want to say thanks for posting your wonderful photos of the angels below the Theotokos in Chora. I’m a student on Aidan Hart’s diploma course (www.icondiplomastudent.wordpress.com) and planning to study these angels in preparation for painting two angels, (Michael and Raphael) on the doors of a small triptych as part of my submission. I have decent images of five of these angels from Aidan, but have been looking out for the others and you have helped greatly – please may I print off your photos to refer to? If you know of any books or websites which give any more info on these, I would be delighted to hear from you! Many thanks Ronnie Cruwys
Hi Ronnie,
Thanks for your kind words. The photographs were taken in less than ideal circumstances: the light was difficult, I didn’t have a tripod with me and there were lots of visitors coming into the church in waves. I would be happy for you to use my pics as reference material. Let me know when you have finished them as I would love to see how they turn out. Unfortunately I don’t know of any books or websites on the Chora, although I looked for material when I came back to enhance my understanding of what I had seen. I did buy a guide book at the Church which had some good photographs, but the text is rubbish. It’s translated from Turkish into a language only distantly related to English.
I really admire the drawings on your blog. They are beautifully done and you are very talented. I can’t draw at all, so photography is the closest I can get to any form of creative endeavour.
Kind regards,
Peter
Hello Peter,
Thats very kind of you to let me use the photos. Thank you. It’s hard to take photos of domes at the best of times and I think yours are very good.
I will be happy to let you see how the icons progress, though it may take me several attempts before I do anything reasonable. The streets scenes are so easy compared with icon painting!
You write and post some interesting pieces and of best of all, your photos!
Your blog came up through my search for Chora Byzantine Angels! Looking forward to reading more in future. Thanks and best wishes, Ronnie
Hi Peter,
I would like to use one of your photos of the Hagia Sophia in an academic publication. If this is something you would be interested in, please contact me at lola.harre@tandf.co.uk for further details.
Best,
Lola
Love your Mediterranean inspirations !
Hi Peter, thanks for posting your magnificent photos of the villa mosaics at Piazza Armerina. I am a researcher working on late antiquity, and in an upcoming article about the roles of children in the countryside I would like to discuss the image of the boy with the hound in your photo of the sacrifice scene. Would it be possible for me to obtain a high resolution image of your photo, to be reproduced in an academic publication (no financial profit to me personally) with full acknowledgement of you as the photographer? You can contact me on FB messenger, or via this blog. Many thanks, Tamara
Hi Tamara, thanks for your comments. Yes, I am very happy to let you use a pic for your article with due acknowledgement. Can you please confirm which picture you are referring to? I think it is pic no. 15 in my first blog post about Piazza Armerina. If you could let me know, I’ll send it to your email address.
Have you also seen my blog post about the mosaics from the Byzantine Imperial Palace in Istanbul (https://wordscene.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/byzantine-imperial-mosaics-in-istanbul/) which also has some depictions of children, including one of a boy with a puppy which I find rather sinister. I would also love to read your finished article if you could send me a copy.
Best wishes,
Peter
Thank so much, Peter, that’s very generous of you – and I will be delighted to send you the article as soon as it appears. Yes, pic. 15 in this post is the one https://wordscene.wordpress.com/tag/piazza-armerina/
(if you would like to send me pic 2 of the domina with her slaves on the way to the baths, it’s one of my faves). I would also love one from the Istanbul palace as you suggest – a copy of the 2 boys driving geese (pic 5) please, as that also really illustrates children at work (don’t worry about the boy and puppy – they are rather creepy aren’t they! I don’t think those mosaic artists were used to doing images of children!) Could you google me on the University of Melbourne website (just “unimelb tamara lewit” will find me) to get my email from ‘contact’? Let me know if any problems. The publishers normally require a pretty high resolution. Again, thanks a million, they are great pics.
Hi, Peter,
It seems there is something very special about Greece. I love Spain, but all of a sudden I realized that the richness of Greece is immense. Its chopped territory, the continuous and at the same time layered history, the proximity to the other side of the world, which begins in Turkey.
I am eager to visit Greece. It is going to be the first visit.
Thank you for your very interesting blog.
Cheers,
Cesar Barroso
Miami, Florida, USA.
Hi Cesar,
I envy you your first visit! It is a beautiful country with a rich history. I often hold up my hands in despair at not being able to capture something of its beauty on camera. It has to be seen and experienced first hand.
Best wishes,
Peter
Dear Peter,
found your blog on Twitter and am really enjoying reading.
For your Greek training maybe you would like to watch some of these documentaries:
https://www.ertflix.gr/category/ellinika-docs/fotina-monopatia/
no subtitles, but I suppose meanwhile you don’t need them anymore!
Kindest regards
Brigitte
Hi Brigitte,
Thank you for your kind words and link to the series of Greek films. I do miss the subtitles though – I think you overestimate my Greek!
Looking forward to reading your interesting blog about Venice.
Kind regards,
Peter
Dear Peter,
I am a researcher working with an author to populate his book with images. The author found your photo of Shostakovich’s grave from your blog post on Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow and is particularly fond of it. We are interested in licensing this image for the book. Please contact me at chloegrinberg7@gmail.com if you would like to consider this usage request.
Thank you!
Chloe