Photography: Alexis Vasilikos photographs opulent houses left behind by the Greek crisis

Date
27 February 2014

The trees are luscious and green, the skies bright blue, the houses palatial and… empty. Greek photographer Alexis Vasilikos took to photographing the newly-abandoned and somehow sad-looking houses of the Greek suburbs after the economic began to take its toll on the middle class, leaving these symbols of burgeoning wealth desolate and deserted. The resulting images are a fascinating portrait of the financial ruin facing many countries after the crisis hit, with drawn shutters destroyed walls communicating as much as a dismayed face can do in normal portraiture.

He explains: “The Greek Dream Real Estate is a photo-essay made in the Northern suburbs of Athens. Its main focus is the residential architecture of the area; the Northern suburbs is one of the most expensive areas of Athens, and to have a house in this area is a symbol of social status and has been middle class dream for decades. Now that the middle class in Greece is shrinking rapidly, it seems a good time to have a closer look at this dream, to see what it’s really made of.”

Above

Alexis Vasilikos: The Greek Dream Real Estate

Above

Alexis Vasilikos: The Greek Dream Real Estate

Above

Alexis Vasilikos: The Greek Dream Real Estate

Above

Alexis Vasilikos: The Greek Dream Real Estate

Above

Alexis Vasilikos: The Greek Dream Real Estate

Share Article

About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.