Nikos Pilos

Photographer, Videographer
   
Landscapes of the Greek Crisis
Location: Athens, Istanbul, Belgrade
Nationality: Greek
Biography: Nikos Pilos is an award-winning photojournalist currently based in Athens, Greece, and one of Europe’s noted feature photographers. He has traveled extensively to document war, natural disasters, poverty, socioeconomic struggle and cultural... MORE
Private Story
Landscapes of the Greek Crisis
Copyright Nikos Pilos 2024
Updated May 2014
Topics Eurocrisis, Greece, photojournalism


After 6 years of zero growth and 1 out 3 Greeks living under the line of poverty, the country's landscapes have completely changed. About 30% of shops have shut down, and streets that used to bustling with life, are now filled with closed stores. The atmosphere feels heavy and people on the streets rarely smile. The streets are covered with graffiti's, as there's no money available to keep walls clean, while when natural disasters strike, due to the country's economic state, there's little it can do to help those affected. In their minds, people's only goal is to survive, making the society harsh and violent. The government's crack-down on anarchists, but also protestors that don't agree with the austerity policies has cast a cloud of fear over the city. Fear that leads to people turning to the extremes, like Golden Dawn. Immigrants are also victims of the crisis, as there are less jobs available. Immigrants with green cards are losing their legal status, as they're out of jobs. More than 4000 suicides have been committed, the past three years and the number of abandoned infants has risen. The middle-class is disappearing and the lower class is being squeezed. The problematic welfare state that existed before the crisis started is now absent. One third of the population is uninsured, while even those insured can't afford a doctor's visit for a simple cold and so they form big lines in the ER. Factories and historical businesses are shutting down because they can't compete with the cheaper products from the Balkans, while state assets are being sold very cheap and investors are not prosecuted when they pollute the environment. The economic crisis has taken over every aspect of daily life and it has turned into a political and social crisis as well.

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