Yiannis Kolesidis
“Now that lockdown movement permits are repealed, I can go to church without stressing about the time I can spend there”
Iliodoros Filios posing in a church, down town Athens, 7 May 2020
“The lockdown was hard and I hope it never happens again. I felt like I was out in the world for the first time”
Hairdressers Kelly Sfyri (L) and July Varouta (R) do the hair of Paraskevi Tsapraili (Centre L) and Mary Koulouki (Centre R), Athens, 6 May 2020
Empty chairs placed at Syntagma square, as part of the “EMPTY CHAIRS” European protest of people in the catering and tourism industry protesting about the consequences of the new coronavirus pandemic in their sector, Athens, 6 May 2020.
The departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
The departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
The departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
People, keeping their distances, walk at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre after the lift of the lockdown measures imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
“At this time, the beginning of the summer season, the airport would be bursting with life. Millions of visitors from around the world would come to Athens and we were getting ready to welcome them”
Senior agent at Airport Information, Maria Iatrou, at the info desk in Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
“The airport was so empty of passengers only in the days before its inauguration, in 2001. Only, back then, the feelings were the opposite: there was joy and suspense”
Christina Kanaki, Terminal Operations Supervisor in the empty departure lounge in Athens International Airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
A cleaner walks in the departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
The departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
The travelator leading to the metro and suburban railway station, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Athens International Airport, 9 May 2020.
People enjoying their walk in the sunset on Flisvos beach, after the lift of the lockdown measures imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Paleo Faliro, 9 May 2020.
“I have been working in the airport for 17 years. It is a very strange feeling to find yourself everyday in an immense space, without any people”
Cleaner Mpoukouria Doma, in the departure lounge at Athens International airport, during the restrictive measures for flights, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Athens 9 May 2020.
People enjoying their walk in the sunset on Flisvos beach, after the lift of the lockdown measures imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Paleo Faliro, 9 May 2020.
“When I submitted my application to work at the National Emergency Aid Centre (EKAB), following a call by the Minister of Health, I told my friends that “we are going to war”
National Emergency Aid Centre Rescuers Konstantina Papachristodoulou (L), 39 y.o. and Thomas Koulakiotis, 48 y.o., in an ambulance at the EKAB operation centre, 11 April 2020. Thomas Koulakiotis is married and has one child. He has been working as a rescuer in the private sector for the past seven years. When the Minister of Health called for doctors and nursing staff to be hired to deal with the pandemic, he applied and belongs to the first lot of those thrown into the battle against the coronavirus. He started working at EKAB on 1 April 2020.
“I will not have a unicellular organism beat me”
Nurses Maria Tsamouri (M), Taimpa-Naz Riaz (L) and Iordana Moskofi (R), pose behind the glass separating the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), touching the hand reflections of doctors Giorgos Dimopoulos (R) and Dimitris Konstantonis (R), at the hospital “Attico” in Haidari, on 15 April 2020. Giorgos Dimopoulos is an intensive care medicine professor at the University of Athens, head of the coronavirus unit at “Attico” Hospital. He is married, with children.
Food service worker Eleni Griva (R), 51 y.o., and nurses serve meals to patients hospitalised for COVID-19 at “Attico” Hospital in Haidari, 15 April 2020. Eleni Griva is married with two children.
“At first it was uncomfortable, but then we felt really nice as we provide for patients, who have none of their own here; they are completely on their own.”
Food service worker Eleni Griva, 51 y.o., poses in the COVID-19 patient ward, at “Attico” Hospital in Haidari, 15 April 2020. She is married with two children.
“Our job is hard; it’s more like a “calling”. We are frontline workers, but I can’t stop working for people. There is fear, but one has to go on; bread is a necessity”
Baker Spyros Achmeti, 41 y.o., as he takes bread out of the oven, at his bakery in Kalyvia Thorikou, 13 April 2020. He has been a baker for 22 years. He is married with two children.
“It's hard to not see your loved ones, your family, or to have to be out to protect them as well as everybody else in Attica”.
Sergeant Stergios Kakarontzas (L), 28 y.o. and constable Charalambos Baylis (R), 26 y.o., pose in front of the Parliament, Athens, 12 April 2020. Stergios Kakarontzas in not married and lives by himself.
“It’s a huge responsibility: many people depend on me and if I or anyone working here gets infected and I have to close down, these people won’t be able to get their medicines”
Pharmacist Lambros Kouris, 42 y.o., in his pharmacy in Kalyvia Thorikoi, 10 April 2020.
A homeless man carries his belongings in bags, wandering before closed shops in the desolate Psyrri square, during the COVID-19 lockdown, downtown Athens, Tuesday 21 April 2020.
Constable Charalambos Baylis, 26 y.o., poses in front of the Parliament, Athens, 12 April 2020.
National Emergency Aid Centre (EKAB) Rescuers, Konstantina Papachristodoulou (L), 39 y.o. and Thomas Koulakiotis, 48 y.o., in the operation centre of EKAB, 11 April 2020.
“My friends say I’m a hero, but I don’t feel like a hero; I’m just doing my job and what I really love”
National Emergency Aid Centre (EKAB) Rescuer, Konstantina Papachristodoulou (L), 39 y.o., poses in an ambulance at the operation centre of EKAB, 11 April 2020. Katerina Papachristodoulou is married to a National Emergency Aid Centre (EKAB) rescuer and has one child.