The Athenians
Socrates Baltagiannis
A wandering in the streets of Athens, the city where I was born, raised, and as much as it hurts me, I stubbornly choose to live in and call my home.
There is something deeply personal about these streets and each step taken, feels like a conversation with the city itself. Athens, gives you the feeling that you’re dealing with a living, breathing entity, constantly evolving and transforming. A multidimensional individual born to last. Stand still and you’re going to hear it’s pulse. A rhythm you can almost touch.
This series of pictures started their journey during a period when both my personal life and the city were undergoing profound changes. This exploration within the city’s boarders became even more meaningful as the economic crisis in Greece created a shift in Athens and it’s people living in it.
The faces you meet here are as varied as the city itself. They each carry their own stories, struggles and dreams, shaped by this place and vice versa. Every face tells a tale of Athens, a narrative that is as unique as those living it.
Individual frames. Individual stories. Moments from everyday life. Put it all together, and you have the pieces of the puzzle I call “The Athenians”.
- Acropolis, Athens, Greece. June 2023$800
Athens, Greece. February 2015$500
- Athens, Greece. January 2014$500
- Athens, Greece. 2015$500
- Athens, Greece. 2014$800
- Athens, Greece. April 2025$500
- Athens, Greece. June 2025$500
- Athens, Greece. April 2025$500
-Athens, Greece. June 2023$500
- Athens, Greece. January 2023$800
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. June 2023$500
- Athens, Greece. 2010$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$800
- Athens, Greece. July 2024$500
- Athens, Greece. 2010$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. June 2025$500
- Athens, Greece. June 2023$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. 2010$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. 2011$500
- Athens, Greece. 2012$500
- Athens, Greece. 2010$500
Socrates Baltagiannis is a documentary photographer born in 1979 and based in Athens. Formerly a graphic designer, he embraced photography in 2009 and developed into a self-taught photojournalist. His work spans editorial assignments, humanitarian documentation, and personal projects rooted in social and environmental concerns. He has documented the refugee crisis in Greece with UNHCR and IFRC and freelances for a press agency. Recognised by LensCulture, dpa Pictures of the Year, and Prix Pictet, among others, his photographs have been widely exhibited, reflecting his empathetic and profoundly human visual voice.