iDyssey

The Odyssey can be considered one of the greatest masterpieces of western literature. It was composed in the late 8th century B.C. and together with the Iliad, it is one of the oldest and most influential poems in western culture. The epic has its roots in an oral tradition, transmitted by itinerant poets, singers and storytellers. It was usually told or chanted in monotone music, sometimes sung by performers among villages and towns of the ancient world. In contemporary society, the digital revolution has drastically changed the transmission of knowledge and information. Just as computers directed our lives in a different way, now tablets and smartphones dominate the various means of communication. A smartphone can function as a radio, a telephone, a camera and a video camera, even a telegraph if we would need one. Everyone can now be a storyteller. IDyssey is a photographic project that aims to combine two extremes of our culture: past and future. The first epic novel of our history transmitted through the most contemporary media. A travel report using only the iPhone as a camera. There are several theories concerning Odysseus’ itinerary from the city of Troy towards the island of Ithaca, but none of these have been confirmed till today. Among the numerous hypothesis (including an Odyssey that takes place in the Baltic sea) I decided to follow the path narrated by the famous Hellenist Victor Berard in his book “Dans le Sillage d'Ulysse”, 1933. IDyssey follows part of the most common accepted itinerary of the Odyssey. The project includes 12 stops, from Troy to Ithaca, crossing through Turkey, Tunisia, Italy and Greece.