The Greek community of Melbourne was saddened to hear of the sudden passing of one of its most well known community photographers and cinematographers, present at so many gatherings.
A fixture at weddings, christenings, 25 March parades and social gatherings, John Roubos, who passed away at the age of 74 after a long battle with terminal illness, would capture local history and was a familiar face behind the lens.
Not just a job for him, Mr Roubos would be fully present, usually there for hours on end but also included to engage in conversations and share a laugh with others present.
Along with faces from within the community, he had a collection of photographs of well-known heads of states, athletes and people of letters.
The rooms of his house are jam-packed with his work, a living tribute to Greeks in the antipodes from the past fifty years – his home, though he never forgot his birthplace in Messinia, the Peloponnese.
Professor Tasos Tamis writes, “The offerings of John Roubos to Hellenism are unique, because, essentially, this person beat death by immortalising and thus saving from death all these events of Greeks in Australia among others. John Roubos saved the image of the Greek community, the diaspora, from death and obliteration by preserving their activities for the present, future and so forth.”
