7 A.M. - 3 P.M. is a contemplative portrayal of the monotony and stagnation within the Greek public sector, capturing the daily lives of people exhausted not by hard work, but by an unrelenting routine. People who work, dream, celebrate, grow bored, and seek the meaning behind it all along with a way out.
A figure enters holding documents, while another waits his turn reading a newspaper atop his briefcase. A scene capturing the pace of public administration from a bygone era.
Piping and sharp window geometries draw the eye toward the sky. The stairwell and utility areas reveal the labyrinthine structure of the public building.
A shot from the dark interior toward the intense street light, where employees crowd at the exit. The image captures the departure, which often occurred early due to bomb threats that signaled the definitive end of the shift.
A figure enters holding documents, while another waits his turn reading a newspaper atop his briefcase. A scene capturing the pace of public administration from a bygone era.
Project Description
7 A.M. - 3 P.M. it's the working hours of the Greek Public Services. Until recently the dream of almost everyone in Greece included a position, anywhere, in the Greek public sector.
Until recently the dream of almost everyone in Greece included a position, anywhere, in the Greek public sector, as the best prospect for a steady salary and a sense of security and permanence. It happened to me as well, without ever seeking it, and for ten years I learned what Greek Public Services are about. Gray spaces, half hearted rhythms, seas of paper from which the leviathan of bureaucracy would emerge daily to drown any sign of human creativity.
People feeling exhausted, not by tiredness but by the relentless daily routine, which could be a little less unbearable if this whole mechanism somehow worked after a reasonable fashion. People working together, dreaming, celebrating, feeling bored, looking for the meaning inside all this and often for the emergency exit. My intention was never to expose my ex colleagues, but rather to capture their lives and daily routines. So, observe and record is what I do and as luck would have it my work is
being treated as a socio historic document, now that the public sector in Greece is treated as the scapegoat of the crisis.European and local bureaucrats have deemed that sanitization of the public services will open the road for economic growth and reform of the country. No matter the case, Greek people's dream for a place in the public sector are crumbling and the foundations of this dysfunctional mechanism are shaking. For what the future may bring, we await…
Photobook
The photographic series culminated in the publication of the namesake photobook by Hyper Hypo in 2025. A comprehensive look into the human geography of the Greek public services through 75 selected works, now available in bookstores.