Portrait
Title
Portrait
Description
George Phillos was born in Tripoli, Greece around 1891. He immigrated to the United States in 1912 and settled in Bloomington, Illinois. There, George worked in his family’s candy stores as a confectioner. During the First World War, he served in the U.S. Army and was possibly stationed in California. Around that time, he acquired a camera and began to document his life and his travels. Later, he moved to Chicago, where he died in 1980.
Phillos’ family remember him as a jovial man. He never married but had a close relationship with his extended family. As evidenced by this collection, he was a photography enthusiast. He also enjoyed sharing stories about family from years long past.
Phillos created this collection using photographs he himself took, in addition to those taken of him by others. The black and white photographs were mostly printed on postcard paper, a popular, inexpensive printing medium at the time. There are also several portraits in the collection that were done in photography studios, like the one you see here of George.
The images in this exhibition represent photographs taken by one person and yet they tell us a story that is larger than one individual. These are snapshots of both a life, and life writ large, documenting an important period in the Greek American story--one George Phillos experienced firsthand.
Phillos’ family remember him as a jovial man. He never married but had a close relationship with his extended family. As evidenced by this collection, he was a photography enthusiast. He also enjoyed sharing stories about family from years long past.
Phillos created this collection using photographs he himself took, in addition to those taken of him by others. The black and white photographs were mostly printed on postcard paper, a popular, inexpensive printing medium at the time. There are also several portraits in the collection that were done in photography studios, like the one you see here of George.
The images in this exhibition represent photographs taken by one person and yet they tell us a story that is larger than one individual. These are snapshots of both a life, and life writ large, documenting an important period in the Greek American story--one George Phillos experienced firsthand.
Creator
National Hellenic Museum
Source
https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/11967
Publisher
National Hellenic Museum
Date
1933
Contributor
Jeremy Bucher
Phoebe Yates
Phoebe Yates
Rights
National Hellenic Museum
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Still Image
Identifier
2003.26.235
Files
Reference
Portrait, National Hellenic Museum, National Hellenic Museum, 1933
Cite As
National Hellenic Museum, “Portrait,” National Hellenic Museum Virtual Exhibitions, accessed April 19, 2024, https://nhmdigitalexhibitions.omeka.net/items/show/6.