The Beauty in Time!

I finally come around and have time to process the pottery photos I took in the archeology museum in Nemea and Mycenae, Greece. Here are some of my favorites.

Action Packed September!

September was a busy but very exciting month. On top of being published in an advertisement in Sports Illustrated. Couple of the cutting edge projects I worked on went live last week.

To start with, Intel announced a new technology breakthrough that will change the landscape of data communication. Light Peak is an optical datacom technology that can carry 10G/s over an optical cable. With only few days in the public eyes since IDF, it generated a lot of interests. It's unblievably light and compact when you hold it in your hands. Amazing how much more data it can carry comparing to the copper cable.

Here is the original Intel Press Release and couple other publications that give you more details on the impact of the technology: Technology Review and Popular Science.

On the other end of the spectrum is the microfluidic 48X48 Access array lab on a chip and Stem cell chip from Fluidigm. A single and incredibly compact(palm size) 48X48 chip can perform mind-boggling 2305 experiments and analysis at the same time. It provides a way of rapid genome sequencing which pave the way for personalize DNA data base. Here is the access array chip photo published on Nature magazine. Stem cell chip provides an amazing platform to culture skin cell into stem cell for research purposes! You can see the full story here.

Here is a one of my favorite stem cell chip very close up shots. You can see those way cool valves and micro-channels.

Gloria and Sean's Wedding!!

My great friend, Sean, got married to an awesome lady, Gloria!! We were sooo lucky that we get to witness their union and photograph it. It was a day full of warmth, love and tears.

Meseum work, behind the scene!

During this trip in Greece, I spent 2 weeks in the museum in both Mycenae and Nemea to photograph the artifact that were discovered and restored during the last few years.

While I was preparing for the photo shoots, I got to handle those artifacts. Having those objects from 2500 year ago in my hand is a very overwhelming experience. When I first touched the little human clay figure, I could feel the notch and bumps the artists made on those human forms. I could feel how his figures traced and shaped the clay figures. With the pottery, I could also see how the artisan use the spinning wheel to shape the curvature of the vase. Feeling a connection from sooo long ago is a very hard to describe feeling.

The experience working side by side with the archaeology team is sooooo amazing!! From discovering those artifact, documentation, identification, to restoration, every single step take a lot of patience and passion. However, the opportunity to peek into our past is totally worth while.

Below are some of the behind the scene images from the museum.

Dr. Kim Shelton, Director of Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology. She's an expert in classic pottery. Dr. Shelton is inspecting a piece of pottery.

Here is the work shop in Nemea where a lot of the identification and restoration takes place.

Steven and Katrina labeling an architecture fragment.

Linni propping the human figures for the photo shoot in Mycenae Museum.

A corner of the stock room in Nemea Museum where a lot more potterys are waiting to be photographed.

Nemea Site Restoration!

Here is the Nemea site. There are constant restoration going on trying to bring the ancient site back to life. Every site has different management, and hence different restoration philosophy. I like the way this site is restored. It's reconstructed to show visitors how it used to be, however, it still maintains the ancient feeling without using modern finishing like a lot of the other sites.

This is an almost 180 degree panoramic of the site. Please click on it for the higher resolution version.


This is the ruined temple. The Romans destroyed it when they went through the area and left only 3 pillars intact, a symbol of holy trinity. The restoration of the temple is slow. Each component has to be rebuilt and assembled. It's a very laber intensive and time consuming process.

This is the workshop where the molded components are rebuilt.
This is the tool construction workers use to trace the contour of the surface for mold making. You can see the coordinates on the surface of the female mold.

Mycenae Sunset!

Through the 2 weeks I work with in the museum in Mycenae and Nemea, I got to know the town of Mycenae and made a lot of good friends there. I also love the way they grill meat there. Fresh lamb or pork grilled to give the flavor then deep fried until fat is crunchy. It's a very addictive flavor!

The Mediterranean sun is blazingly hot. Most shops and restaurants are close from noon until almost 5pm when the weather cools down a bit. I love to take a walk with my camera that time and capturing the town becoming alive and shepherds herding their sheep back home after a day’s labor. It’s a sense of simplicity, peacefulness and content in the air (if you pay attention, you can smell the grill lamb, too).

It's hard to link modernity to this, but that's the contrast of the aged and the new that I experience everyday in Greece.


This is the concert for one of the most famous singers in Greece.


Kostas! A good friend I met there. He also runs the internet cafe in the hotel where I stay!


Nicholas' wife!


Another shepherd couple!
Greek...................Donkey!! (Even though I didn't encounter any this time.)


Local kids like to pop the wheelys, not sure how that trend started. But when I picked up the flash and camera, the pull off some nice stunts for me!


Other than popping the wheelys, this is local street racer's favorite! It accelerates very fast due to the light weight. It seems that there is a whole street racing event based on this kind of scooter.

Olympics! The old school way!!

In June, I received the very exciting assignment that I worked very hard for, to go to Greece with the archaeology team from UC Berkeley. The project was to document the artifacts the archaeologists discovered and restored in both Mycenae and Nemea excavation during the last few years. As a side project, I would also document the re-enacted ancient Olympic game that archaeologists helped re-established.

June 22^nd, 2008, I arrived at Nemea for the Ancient Olympic Game. Nemea used to be one of the few cities that rotated to host the Olympic game back in the 500 B.C. The whole city was built with the only purpose of hosting the game unlike the other cities that had permanent political, commercial, or agricultural activities. The city/compound consists of a stadium, a temple, a whole bunch of dormitories, and some other supplemental buildings. In today’s terms, it’s an Olympic Village.

The re-enacted game follows the traditional protocol. Participants follow the ancient rule to prepare and compete in both short and long distance running in the ancient stadium (To gain broader acceptance, the wrestling and horse racing was not re-enact). In the Olympic year, participating in an event like this really made me feel the 2500 year link between the past and the present.

Sunrise at the Nemea temple, where the prayers and the opening ceremony took place.


The local ladies formed a chore and chant the wishes during the opening ceremony.


The local political leader light up the torch.


The changing room used to be stone and wood building back in the days. Now, with the foundation and few pillars left, the locals put up a very nostalgic feeling tent.


Back in the days, the athletes compete naked with olive oils applied to their skin both as sun block. In 2008, we made a little change called civilization.


The judge pull the rope to drop the gate and start the race.


See the drop down gate? By the way, no shoes are allowed!


The whole view of the stadium where participants !!


Crossing the finish line!


Runners for the long distance race come back to the stadium and finish their race.


This is what you win, the bragging rights!!


Closing ceremony!