Time has flown since I started my master’s program. I didn’t realize it had been 6 months since my last update on here!
To sum up: I decided to take the leap and enroll in a master’s program in International Development and Service which started in January of this year, and I spent July-September in Thessaloníki, Greece (check out my photo essay blog from there: thessoteriki.wordpress.com) and I’m currently in Cape Town, South Africa until mid-December (new blog featuring content from there is forthcoming).
I return to Greece in January and will stay there until at least March 2023 to finish my final project and degree by end of April 2023. My main research in Greece is exploring components of sustainable communities & circular economies, and I’ll be doing a case study on an NGO in Thessaloníki that serves refugee populations by training them to make upcycled goods for sale. I’ll also be interviewing producers and business that are committed to zero waste/sustainable practices in northern Greece.
In Cape Town, I am doing a study on homelessness interventions in Muizenberg, a town in the Western Cape on the coast of False Bay (it’s also a surfer’s paradise!) This past October, I guest taught a tutorial on mobile/documentary filmmaking at the University of Cape Town, which was really fun! I like teaching, and may look for ways to do that after graduation.
I’ve done some traveling to Romania (July/August), and will to Turkey (December), while I’m overseas. I’m trying to fit in as much wandering as my budget (and energy) will allow while I have this opportunity to travel and live abroad.
I have been filming some video, but it is much easier to take photos for my master’s degree blog projects. I have some interesting footage, though, and I am planning short, experimental films using clips from Greece and South Africa. My hope is that I will be able to produce a film project as part of my final degree and post a segment of it on here and Instagram.
Stay tuned for more! In the meantime, check out this work-in-progress, 4-films-in-one experimentation that I completed for one of my classes in Greece. It includes footage I had gathered in July 2022.
Talk soon,
Chris
Spinning Goat Productions 