The idea of displaying these spaces arose when in 2009 Theodosis Giannakidis visited the Zareifios Paidagogiki Akadimia, a school which he hadn’t seen since he was a pupil there. He was immediately inspired by the empty classrooms and the amazing light that came in through the windows. This light ‘is a reflection of the building’s history’ he says, a reflection that is, of an institution that has remained active for 70 years. The first series of photographs was taken that day and is the start of a record, of what is left of this building and of others in various parts of the city, which have remained unchanged.

Driven by his desire to keep alive a world he has a personal experience of, one made of objects that are almost lost to us, he collects visual images of fragments and interiors, as would a persistent collector, in order to listen to the quiet echo of their voices and to save them from the inertia of oblivion.

He is not interested in taking a photograph that will describe, interpret or document these spaces, but one that will serve as a means of proximity, a means of collecting and maintaining.

Immersed in natural light, without photographic tricks, meticulously framed with good sense and balance and far from any romanticism, Giannakidis, encourages us to experience the smell of roses at the old French Train Station, feel the humidity of the old wallpaper at the ‘Majestic’ hotel, listen to the sound of the piano at the Municipal Music School and discover the degree of the time gap which separates us from these old sites.

NINA KASSIANOU