Avalki is a long abandoned port on the southern shores of a small volcanic Greek island called Nysiros. The whole Island really is a dormant volcano situated between Rhodes and Kos in the aegean sea. Avlaki itself can only be accessed on land via a teetering torturous and twisting single track road that plunges ever downwards from the lofty rim of the islands huge Caldera. From the ragged black lava stream landscape at the shoreline, a spindly finger of rock sticks out into the sea to form a harbour for what was once a bustling port for small fishing and trading vessels. Unused and abandoned for 70 years or so the crumbling houses that formed the hamlet of Avlaku give this place an area of mystique if not charm. Just prior to my visit in 2019 the aforementioned spit where boats want to disembark their cargoes had recently been renovated with a liberal coating of cement and concrete. And all this apparently without too much use of a spirit level or theodolite. So much so, that the smooth carefully trowelled surface hugs the natural contours of the outlying rocks organically transforming this locality into something quite surreal. For me this is a magical place especially where the harsh midday mediterranean sun reached down onto the smooth pale grey cement. Set against the black lava outcrops this scenario causes a violent visual disparity. This results in deep contrasting shadows that further heighten and expressed the curving sensuous outlines of the retaining walls and fluctuating levels. Furthermore, all of these forms and elevations are brought together by the purposeful inclusion of some unrefined yet carefully crafted steps. Inevitably it is this flight of steps that provides a focal point if not a centerpiece for all these compositions. I hope that when viewed this series of images provokes a similar response to the one that stirred my imagination when I first set eyes on Avlaki.