Zefyrou 56

For Courbet and the realist artists of the nineteenth century, the contemporary subject of their work expressed their democratic beliefs and their desire to capture the harsh and complex reality distorted by the early aftermath of the Industrial Revolution and the creation of a capitalist bourgeoisie.

The twenty-first-century employee, the overtime white-collar worker, is a familiar figure. The intense work pace and the recent practice of teleworking are slowly ‘devouring’ almost all aspects of life, with the direct consequence that the boundaries between work and free time become indiscernible. Today, their position is burdened even more, as the concept of stable and permanent employment poses as a question more than ever.

In my photographic work, based on a recent change of space in the workplace of the organization where I have been working for seventeen years, I try to capture the atmosphere in the new offices on Zefyrou Street in Faliro. The Colleagues who are familiar throughout their working lives with a single workspace, when they moved to the impersonal building on Zefyrou Street in the spring of 2022, felt displaced, confused, and insecure.

In my photos, I tried to record my colleagues in moments of stillness, framed by the modest space in scattered light as well as the objects of their work, such as computers, printers, and cables that participate in the photographic series as ‘footnotes’. Emphasis is placed on the daily experiential condition of the workers. The topography of getting used to the new environment is explored as a conversation between the architectural soul of the office and the colleagues surrounded by their personal belongings, through their efforts to give life and color to their new, sterile ‘home’.

Bureaucracy and modern technological and digital culture are juxtaposed with the human presence as irrefutable evidence of a reality that runs, often, faster than us and leaves us behind.

* A big thank you to the people I photographed.

Work created during the Master Program “Photography Research and Methodology” of the University of West Attica.

Curated by: Dr Markidou Anastasia, Assosiate Professor, Head of Program MA “Photography Research and Methodology” of the University of West Attica.