No monuments, no tourist attractions, no emblematic landscapes; nothing evoking a sense of place. And yet this is Rethymnon in Crete, as seen through the lens of Alex Soloviev, a 38-year-old photographer and cinematographer from Russia. Earlier this year, Soloviev was on the island on holiday without formal plans to do any filming. As always, he had his gear with him, “just in case,” but he was only looking to unwind and enjoy the sea and sun. The scenery, however was so evocative it kept begging for attention; “There was something cinematographic about it, but also reminiscent of home,” says Soloviev. “I could not resist capturing it for eternity.”

He filmed for about four days with a Canon 6D and a recorder Zoom H1, capturing images and sounds of everyday life; whatever caught his attention and moved him in some way: the faces of locals, a goat munching, the sound of the sea, the cicadas, a motorbike, a cat’s meow. “Capturing everyday life is more significant to me than monuments and impressive time lapses.” After spending two weeks in the editing room selecting his sequences, color grading and creating the sound design, Frames of Crete was ready. Like an entry of a video-diary written in the stream of consciousness technique, its shots fragmented, fleeting and subjective like memories, this is a visual narrative that defies any touristic beautification and instead portrays the beauty of a creator’s subjective truth.