Northport Photographer Brings ‘A Summer In Greece’ To Library Gallery

EAST NORTHPORT, NY — Northport resident Iris Zaverdas De Vita is stepping into the spotlight this month, inviting the community to experience Greece through her own lens in “A Summer in Greece,” a photo exhibit on display Jan. 2 through Jan. 31 at the Northport-East Northport Library Art Gallery.

The exhibit is paired with a Meet the Artist reception on Friday, Jan. 9, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the library. De Vita said the images stir memory for those who’ve been there and spark curiosity for those who haven’t.

“This is more exposure for me, and I want to show the beauty of Greece,” De Vita said in an interview with Patch. “Anybody who hasn’t been there, I feel like this is a great way to show how stunning the country really is.”

De Vita has lived on Long Island for decades, including time in Huntington and Greenlawn, before settling in Northport two years ago. Her career story spans major media, local arts, and a pandemic-era pivot into entrepreneurship. She described entering the industry right out of college, beginning in public relations at ABC Television.

Her experience eventually expanded into news and entertainment, including a stint on the long-running soap opera “All My Children,” where she worked from 1993 to 1996 as a writer’s assistant — a job she remembers as formative in shaping her early creative ambitions.

“I always wanted to get into TV or film as a writer, producer — anything along those lines,” she said.

Her résumé includes additional work in Miami at WPLG-TV/10 in community service coordination and public relations, followed by a return to New York and roles that blended production and communications. De Vita has also worked with Saturday Night Live, American Movie Classics, and E2W Collective, experiences that she said helped shape her identity as a storyteller, publicist, and photographer.

At one point, she made the personal decision to prioritize raising her children.

De Vita is the mother of two adult daughters — Caitlin, 26, and Julia, 24. Caitlin works in education as a special education math teacher in the Half Hollow Hills and Dix Hills school districts, while Julia works in photography and social media content creation at The Paramount in Huntington and is also a performer with experience in acting and singing.

When her daughters were older, De Vita’s path reconnected with the arts world through a place familiar to many Long Islanders: the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington.

“I walked into Cinema Arts Centre, and I said, ‘Do you need help? Because I love film,’” she recalled. “They hired me… I ended up staying there for 10 years as a part-time employee, doing publicity promotions for them.”

When the pandemic hit, the organization downsized, and De Vita found herself facing what many arts and communications professionals encountered at the time: uncertainty, a shifting job market, and the push to reinvent.

“It was really difficult, but I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to start my own business,’” she recalled.

That business became Golden Iris, LLC, which De Vita said will mark its second anniversary this February. She built it to hold two creative identities at once — public relations and photography — because in practice, they often overlap.

“I do two things,” she said. “I’m a photographer too… I’m going to combine both. I’ll do photography and public relations — people who I’m doing PR for need pictures, so I offer my services.”

De Vita is also a member of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce and NYWIFT — New York Women in Film & Television. She is 100 percent Greek, with both parents from Greece, and said her last trip there was in the summer of 2015. She traveled with family — eight people in total — and brought her Nikon camera along.

The itinerary included Athens, Santorini and Mykonos, along with smaller villages that a family connection helped them explore.

“A lot of my pictures are from Santorini,” she said. “It’s very picturesque — whitewashed buildings — the beaches and the sunsets.”

The concept for the show, she explained, began taking shape a few years after that trip, when she decided to curate her favorite images and present them in a gallery-ready format.

“Two summers ago, in June, I said, ‘You know what? I think I’m going to pick my favorite pictures, make them into canvas — 16-by-20-inch canvas prints — and I’ll try to get it out there with local galleries and libraries and whatnot.’”

De Vita said audiences have been responding to the exhibit in two distinct ways. Some have been to Greece and see the photos as a time capsule; others are seeing the country through these scenes for the first time.

The show isn’t only about scenery — it’s about memory, longing, and imagination, something De Vita said she hears directly from visitors.

“It brings me back to my experience, my memories,” she recalled people telling her. “It inspires people to go.”

While the East Northport Library show runs throughout January, De Vita said the exhibit is also part of a larger effort to place her work in local community spaces, especially galleries and libraries. She has already held multiple shows in the area — including at Harborfields Library, the Northport Library, the Huntington Art Center, and Daniel Gale Real Estate in Northport — and said she plans to continue seeking opportunities to share her work.

Looking ahead, De Vita said she is also planning a future photo project centered on people and their pets, capturing the bond they share — particularly with cats, which she said have always been her favorite.

For now, De Vita is focused on welcoming visitors to the library gallery and sharing a slice of Greece with the community she now calls home.

“I’m from Northport, I live here, and what inspired me was sharing the beauty of Greece with other people in my own neighborhood,” she said.

For more information about De Vita and her work, visit www.GoldenIrisPR.com