I first met Matina Galati in a grove of extraordinary juniper trees on a limestone mountain above the Prespa lakes where I live in northern Greece. That day, I’d been walking with the Hungarian gardener and botanist Máté Tálas and two friends of his when Matina arrived from Athens to join the group for the … Continue reading Artwork for Lifelines: Interview with Matina Galati
"For more than two decades now I’ve lived alongside the pelicans of the Prespa lakes in northern Greece. These birds are—for so many, residents and visitors alike—simply an astonishing and seamless part of being here. There is no Prespa without pelicans. In summer, the skies brighten with their flights, as hundreds of birds, their wingspans … Continue reading The Spirit of the Wetlands
Although the young man playing crazy golf wore shorts, the day was sharp and shivery on the pier. Glassy March light slid off the waves and broke into bright, glittering shards. Further out to sea, panels of dark grey rain had been hoisted against the horizon, blotting it from view. The arms of the Ferris … Continue reading A Murmuration of Starlings
Where Spain shelves into the sea at the most southerly tip of continental Europe only fourteen kilometres of water separate it from North Africa. Through the late summer haze you can see the buckled beginnings of Morocco’s Rif Mountains, towering over the glittering blue span of the Strait of Gibraltar. And with that landmass in … Continue reading Salt of Life
Flying fish spun away from the bow of the boat, skimming the water on translucent, wing-like fins. They glittered beneath a pouring sun, each one gliding over the glossy waves for up to fifty metres at a time, the kind of fantastical creature you’d long to invent if it didn’t already exist. White water suddenly … Continue reading Crossing Paths
Julian Hoffman 