That’s what a Greek tourism campaign would have you believe after using images of Victorian landmark the Twelve Apostles.
The distinctive rock formation represents the Greece coast and the makers are bizarrely unapologetic saying most things originate from Greece.
Australian astro-photographer Alex Cherney took exception to the unauthorised use of his footage from an award-winning time-lapse work called Ocean Sky.
Visit Greece’s tourism campaign video, Gods, Myths, Heroes, uses the Apostles as a representation of the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
The narrator says: “Where Aphrodite, goddess of love, lust and kindness emerges from waves … And when the day is done, the moon and the stars paint the sky in brilliant constellations named from Greek mythology by ancient sailors navigating their way from island to island across the broad sea.” And so on.
Cherney found out about the campaign’s use of his imagery via social media and says their use of an Australia landmark is “preposterous”.
“My video has been seen nearly 2 million times online since 2011, won some awards, and been featured as NASA’s astronomy picture of the day, so that’s probably why it was recognised,” he is quoted in Fairfax newspapers.
The campaign had previously had another hitch when it include d footage of the Olympic torch being lit at the 1936 games in Berlin. The footage used, and removed, was shot by Adolf Hitler’s favourite documentarian.
Greece tourism has since released a somewhat farcical explanation of its use of the 12 Apostles.
“That almost all the world, wherever you turn around your eyes, you will meet an idea, a name, that originated from Greece,” says the translation of the statement. “Even the skies of Australia in the southern hemisphere, explains the artistic creator, when lift your eyes open, you will see stars and constellations that carry Greek names. The mythology of the sky at all latitudes and longitudes of the Earth is Greek.”
Image via Getty
