Photographer documents Greek crisis with pictures of closed businesses

DRY cleaners, travel agencies, dressmakers and butchers. This photographer is capturing a dying economy, one business at a time.

A closed down paper shop in Kleisthenous Street, Athens.

DRY cleaners, travel agencies, dressmakers and butchers. One by one, small family-run Greek stores are going out of business.

Since last September, freelance photographer Georgios Makkas, 37, has been documenting the effects of the ongoing financial crisis by capturing the numerous closed shopfronts now dotting the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki and Ioannina.

Mr Makkas’ photo project, The Archaeology of Now, paints a grim picture of the slow-motion death of the Greek dream.

“With Greece entering its sixth year of recession, tens of thousands of small businesses have already closed, and many more are about to close,” Mr Makkas writes.

“The Greek economy has shrunk by 25 per cent in the last five years and this is very visible in the cities where every second shop has closed down.

“Shops where generations of merchants had run successful businesses are disappearing and together with them the post-WWII Greek dream — the family run shop — is coming to an end. In some cases, bars and fast food restaurants are opening, but usually the spaces remain empty.”

Mr Makkas said all of the pictures are taken with an iPhone while walking the streets “as a quick note to myself of how the cityscape used to be”.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Makkas said he started taking the pictures to document the urban landscape of Greece before he moved to the UK in January.

Now back in Athens covering the latest crisis, Mr Makkas said the situation was dire. “They’re desperate. All of them are desperate. It’s very hard to do business. Greeks don’t have money anymore so they don’t spend,” he said.

“There’s a lot more bartering now than there used to be, but that’s not going to be the solution to the problem. It’s impossible to run an economy like that.”

His parents have seen their private pension halved in the last few years, and Mr Makkas is worried about access to medication for his grandmother who has dementia. “Everybody’s seriously worried about what’s going to happen,” he said.

“I feel betrayed and bullied by the EU. The demands of Berlin are humiliating. A lot of people felt betrayed [by Alexis Tsipras], but others realised that there are no alternatives.”

As he walks the streets, Mr Makkas talks to locals about his project. “Most of them tell me, ‘Keep taking pictures. Show the rest of the world what’s happening in this country. Show them the devastating effects of austerity.’”

For more photos visit the website or follow Georgios Makkas on Instagram.

A closed down video club in Filippou Street, Thessaloniki.

A closed down carpenters workshop in Olimpou Street, Thessaloniki.

A closed down shop that used to sell carpets in Olimpou Street, Thessaloniki.

A closed shop in Sofokleous Street Athens, that used to sell cheese-pies, custard-pies, pizzas with the name Zorbas.

A closed down shop in Athens city centre. The sign reads "Imports — Gerasimos Georgakis".

A closed down shoe shop in Anexartisias Street, Ioannina.

A closed down frozen food shop in 21is Fevrouariou Street, Ioannina.

A closed down photocopy shop in Plateia Theatrou, Athens, with an older sign "O Kostas".

A closed down shop in Athens city centre. The sign reads "Dressmaking Accessories — Mihalopoulos".

An electrical equipment shop Aminta Street, Thessaloniki.

A closed down butcher shop in Ioulianou Street, Thessaloniki.

A closed down baby clothes shop in Frontzou Street, Ioannina.

A closed down funeral home in 21is Fevrouariou Str, Ioannina.

A closed down fashion store in Anexartisias Street, Ioannina.