The nautical term “Mola” derives from the imperative of the Italian verb “mollare,” which means “to let go.” It has been used throughout time in the everyday life of fishermen before they start fishing. Egyptian fishermen live and work among the local fishermen in Greece, but for them, this word takes on another dimension.
In 1984, a special contract was signed between Greece and Egypt for the transfer of Egyptian fishermen to Greek vessels. When the number of Greek fishermen fell dramatically in the 1990s, the presence of the Egyptians filled the gap. The life of the Egyptian fishermen in Greece is mainly “work-work-work.” When they do get some time off, they communicate with their families back home. This project has been followed by a purse seine vessel in Kavala, which is just one example of the hundreds of Greek vessels with Egyptian fishermen on board. Thousands of people, for almost 40 years now, have been fleeing from their poverty-stricken homeland in order to support their families, doing a job in Greece that, presumably, a Greek would hardly do.
Bio: Panagiotis Rontos was born in 1993. He studied at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science at the Democritus University of Thrace in Komotini and attended visual storytelling courses at the Greek Centre of Photography. In 2021, he worked as a researcher of audiovisual stories at “Istorima.” Since 2020, he has been involved in personal projects related to fishing in the broader Thracian Sea and the people working in it. In 2022, he started working as a freelance photojournalist for newspapers in the region of Kavala, Rhodope and Thessaloniki, covering political/social issues, sports, and visual storytelling. His project titled “Molla,” which focuses on Egyptian fishermen, took 2nd place at Athens Photo World 2023.
