The streets of Athens have become the last years a scenery for social clashes triggered by the economic crisis which led the whole country to collapse. Specifically the city center at night, with its abandoned shops and poorly lit roads, creates a dystopian space where people move around their personal dead-ends, trapped in its web. Empty eyes, hurried footsteps, spaces full of fear and danger, the entire city seems to die silently.
My main pursuit, was that effort to reflect on the consequences of the crisis for humans and the city itself, as the new psychogeography unfolded in the public sphere. I chose, consciously, not to record the moments of social conflicts, that took place in a regular basis, in the streets of Athens, mostly because of the spectacular characteristics, that such a retrospective entails. I focused on the “before” and “after”, trying to shift the center of gravity to an internalization of the photographic dialogue. The economic function of the city, along with everything granted until then, collapsed. Just like the lives of the citizens. The commercial streets, central squares, banks, public buildings, whole neighborhoods transforming, being abandoned, looted, destroyed and barricaded.
So, refusing to focus on the spectacular, I wanted, during a period of about seven years, since the crisis was officially “declared”, to explore that new geography of the city, while moving around the city center neighborhoods, documenting the events and seeking to highlight the invisible sight with a personal subjective approach