Paris Demetriades
“Hello, I’m Ben. Cyprus was never part of my plans, and this is my story,” writes a German-born photographer and entrepreneur in a pinned post at the top of his Instagram page, where he appears to have developed a genuine fascination with the island.
“Alongside my professional work in fintech, I also work with analogue photography, capturing places, people and atmospheres in Cyprus, which is a great source of inspiration for me,” he writes elsewhere on his personal website.
The man behind the posts, Benedikt van Lengerich, has in recent months become a familiar presence in the algorithm-driven world of social media feeds, mine included, drawing attention from followers with content that can at times be described as mildly provocative, at least in the way it challenges familiar perceptions.
Personally, I find his content both engaging and refreshingly grounded, as it presents Cyprus through the eyes of someone who has lived here for eight years, has clearly grown attached to the island, and yet remains free from the kinds of local baggage and inward-looking attitudes that, for various reasons, shape much of the domestic conversation.
A recent post in which he described Cyprus’ four main cities is a good example. He described Nicosia as a “real city that happens to be in Cyprus”—not a tourist destination—highlighting its public services, offices, strong local culture, and year-round activity and noting Greeks from Greece as the dominant non-Cypriot community.
Limassol, which he called the island’s business hub and most multicultural city, is home to many international companies, private schools, restaurants, and bars but is also marked by high living costs, heavy traffic, and large communities of Russians, Ukrainians, and Israelis.
Paphos, he wrote, offers a slower, more relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle, with a strong British presence and a growing number of remote workers. Larnaca, meanwhile, sits somewhere in between Limassol and Paphos—more affordable, with a developing international community and a smaller business center, where Lebanese, Israeli, and German residents form some of the main foreign groups.
Of course, the views and posts of any individual resident are not, on their own, material that demands attention or commentary. Still, I think it is interesting to consider the perspective of non-Cypriots who choose to live here and engage with the country in such a visible and consistent way.
It is also worth noting that, as Greek Cypriots, we often remain attached to narratives shaped in another era, sometimes reluctant to fully acknowledge what Cyprus has become today.
Why, for instance, do we so rarely engage with these fairly realistic portrayals of our country, whether in social media posts like these or in the everyday experiences of people who have made Cyprus their home? Why do we so often reduce migration to stereotypes, whether of “criminal” Syrians, “nouveau riche” Russians, or "ghettoized" Israelis, lumping entire communities together based on assumptions?
Why do we not focus more on the state’s own shortcomings in managing these realities? And why do we not highlight more often the benefits of the multicultural Cyprus that has emerged, a country that is steadily becoming one of the most cosmopolitan in the region?
It sometimes feels as though some of us remain mentally anchored in the past, even as the world around us changes at a rapid pace.
There is much happening that deserves a more open public discussion. And the perspective of people who were not born here but chose to live here is perhaps one of the most useful prompts we have.
