Tribute to ‘Gabo’ by Greek photographer Dimitris Yeros

“Photographing Gabriel Garcia Marquez,” a collection of portraits shot by Greek photographer Dimitris Yeros, takes you into the world of the great Columbian writer and Nobel laureate. The large-format book, which captures the author’s everyday life, was published by Karber Photo Art in Germany. It circulated on the first anniversary of Marquez’s death on April 17, and was presented for the first time at the Leipzig Book Fair in March. The photos will go on display in Greece in October at P Gallery.

Yeros spent time with Marquez – also known by his nickname Gabo – in Mexico and Colombia, where he managed to photograph the author during the final but apparently relaxed years of his life.

Many of the portraits were shot in Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, where Marquez spent the last years of his life and which set the scene for his magnum opus, “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Yeros has also included pictures of Gabo’s home and portraits of locals.

“During the shooting, Gabo was very cooperative, very polite, generous, always in a good mood,” Yeros says. In his introduction to the book, art critic Edward Lucie-Smith says: “This book is fascinating because it shows us aspects of one of the greatest writers of our age. Each likeness is subtly different. Each is an avatar of a complex personality – complex enough to hide in plain sight. One might even go so far as to say that each is a loving betrayal.”

Which is true. As you look at the portraits you get the feeling that Marquez is staring you straight in the eyes. Sometimes he looks sad, others he looks happy and amiable. News of the photography book’s circulation spurred extensive publicity across the world and, in a way, this book feels like a souvenir from a great author.

The Colombian writer has always been very popular in Greece and two more books about him are on the way. The first is a graphic novel (published by Ikaros) about his life that has been translated in Greek by Klaiti Sotiriadou, who has translated most of his works into Greek. Sotiriadou has also translated his short stories, which will be included in a new volume published by Nefeli.