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Off Season
Off Season
Hannah Agel
May 30, 2025
Looking back. All the pictures were taken with the Leica Summicron-R 35 f/2 wide-angle lens, which has a particularly vivid, lifelike effect in its depiction, and has made it popular with videographers
When I arrive at the terminal of Heraklion airport, all is calm; just a few cats wander around the building. Following steep, winding roads in the dark, the final kilometres of my drive to my lodgings are a real challenge. The mountains here are so high that I’m driving through the clouds.
The Leica R6, that I’ve been lent by the Leica Store in Hamburg for my travel reportage, is a robust analogue, 35mm SLR camera from the eighties. Its control elements are simple, yet offer everything you need. The preciousness of analogue photography and manual focusing ensure that I’m particularly concentrated and selective when it comes to taking pictures.
My time in Crete begins with Kathara Deftera, a holiday marking the first day of Lent according to Greek Orthodox tradition. Businesses are closed, and people spend the day cleaning their homes, having a great Lenten meal, and flying kites. The xartaetos (aka paper eagles) symbolise Spring and the end of Winter. In Tsoutsouros, a small village on the Libyan Sea south of Heraklion, a few families continue this kite tradition on the beach, and in the evenings classic Greek music echoes through the mountains, late into the night.
Here in the south, the island is much rougher than I expected. Most people work as farmers or shepherds, mainly getting around in old pick-ups. The lonely roads meandering through the landscape always have a snow-covered mountain in the distance. Beyond the towns, the whole island appears eerily empty, while construction work is underway preparing holiday accommodation for the roughly five million tourists who begin flocking to the island as of April every year. You would search in vain for an ice cream at this time of year, as freezers are either unplugged or filled with different types of frozen squid.
Some days are hot, others are so stormy that the Mediterranean roars. Rainbows appear all the time and drizzle flies through the air. The forces of nature are so tangible here, that it’s easy to understand how many myths, legends, gods and other magical creatures originated and found a home on the island. Time and again, smoke rises from fires built with the pruned branches of olive trees, standing in groves interspersed with rapeseed blossoms. There’s an Easter atmosphere in the air, with young lambs and kids gambolling around. The meadows are covered with wildflowers, with different species blooming every day and bathing them in new colours. After four weeks on the island, I fly back to Hamburg. In my luggage, I carry five rolls of film, filled with countless surprises and memorable impressions.
Once home, I can barely wait for the films to be developed. When I receive the scans, I’m delighted to see that all the images are correctly lit and sharp. You can count on the R6! With rich colours and gentle warmth, the pictures glow just like Crete itself.
The Leica R6, that I’ve been lent by the Leica Store in Hamburg for my travel reportage, is a robust analogue, 35mm SLR camera from the eighties. Its control elements are simple, yet offer everything you need. The preciousness of analogue photography and manual focusing ensure that I’m particularly concentrated and selective when it comes to taking pictures.
My time in Crete begins with Kathara Deftera, a holiday marking the first day of Lent according to Greek Orthodox tradition. Businesses are closed, and people spend the day cleaning their homes, having a great Lenten meal, and flying kites. The xartaetos (aka paper eagles) symbolise Spring and the end of Winter. In Tsoutsouros, a small village on the Libyan Sea south of Heraklion, a few families continue this kite tradition on the beach, and in the evenings classic Greek music echoes through the mountains, late into the night.
Here in the south, the island is much rougher than I expected. Most people work as farmers or shepherds, mainly getting around in old pick-ups. The lonely roads meandering through the landscape always have a snow-covered mountain in the distance. Beyond the towns, the whole island appears eerily empty, while construction work is underway preparing holiday accommodation for the roughly five million tourists who begin flocking to the island as of April every year. You would search in vain for an ice cream at this time of year, as freezers are either unplugged or filled with different types of frozen squid.
Some days are hot, others are so stormy that the Mediterranean roars. Rainbows appear all the time and drizzle flies through the air. The forces of nature are so tangible here, that it’s easy to understand how many myths, legends, gods and other magical creatures originated and found a home on the island. Time and again, smoke rises from fires built with the pruned branches of olive trees, standing in groves interspersed with rapeseed blossoms. There’s an Easter atmosphere in the air, with young lambs and kids gambolling around. The meadows are covered with wildflowers, with different species blooming every day and bathing them in new colours. After four weeks on the island, I fly back to Hamburg. In my luggage, I carry five rolls of film, filled with countless surprises and memorable impressions.
Once home, I can barely wait for the films to be developed. When I receive the scans, I’m delighted to see that all the images are correctly lit and sharp. You can count on the R6! With rich colours and gentle warmth, the pictures glow just like Crete itself.
Text and photos: Hannah Agel
EQUIPMENT: Leica R6, Leica Summicron-R 35 f/2
Hannah Agel+-
Hannah Agel was born in Bad Oldesloe in 1992. From 2018 to 2020, she trained as a product photographer and in 2021 as a Master photographer. In 2022, she began studying Communication Design at the Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design in Kiel, and has been employed at LFI since 2025. Nature, still lifes, mood and atmosphere are central themes in Agel’s work. Often captured in spherical lighting and rich colours, her photographs reveal delicate moments and express pathos. As in her photography, she frequently works with analogue materials in her conceptual, multimedia projects. Hannah Agel lives and works in Hamburg. More
Looking back. All the pictures were taken with the Leica Summicron-R 35 f/2 wide-angle lens, which has a particularly vivid, lifelike effect in its depiction, and has made it popular with videographers
The photographs were taken on Kodak Gold 200 colour film. I like using this inexpensive classic because of its rich colours, high contrast and, as the name suggests, slightly golden, warm tone
Some trees, like the fig, are still quite bare in March, whereas the orange is in full blossom and gives off a delightful scent
A backlit shot of the Mediterranean. The reflection of the sun on the water’s surface is converted into sparkling stars as a result of a closed aperture (f/16). I find that the small spots of light, created by the lack of a lens hood, enrich the image
In the interplay of light and shadow, here under a carob tree, I find a motif that never ceases to inspire me
Picture composition at a roadside. Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Osman and, last but not least, the bloody Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1945: the island’s past is reflected in its architecture and cultural history
A view towards Tsoutsouros and the snow-covered Dikti Mountains where, according to legend, the cave where Zeus, supreme Olympian god of Greek mythology, was born is found
Lichen on ancient building blocks. Even with detailed shots, the Leica Summicron-R 35mm f/2 lens, with a minimum focusing distance of 30 cm, performs well and delivers an impressive razor-sharp focus
There is plenty of room on Crete in March. This picture is of a restaurant in Spili with a view towards the monastery of Saint Raphael, and the White Mountain (Lefka Ori)
View from the highest point on the windy road to Tsoutsouros. The picture of the Asterousia Mountains shows an aerial view. Due to the light being scattered by particles, dust and water in the air, mountains appear bluer, brighter and with less contrast as they recede into the distance. This physical phenomenon has been used to depict spacial depth in painting since the Renaissance
Preparing myself for the Greek sun, I brought along films with a low ISO number (these are also insensitive to X-rays at the airport) and a Vario grey filter by Rodenstock, as the R6 cannot expose for less than 1/1000 of a second
For me, the movement and interaction of light and water always create exciting light (refractions), structures and motifs. An attentive eye reveals details such as these on the beach at Kommos
A view of the Ida Mountains framed between pine trees, photographed from the ruins of Phaistos, Crete’s second largest Minoan palace. It was built approximately between 1900 and 1850 BC