Petros Giannakouris
Petros Giannakouris was born in Athens in 1974 and studied at the College of Applied Photography in Athens.
He has worked as a professional photojournalist since 1995, as a staffer for several newspapers and local news agencies, before joining the Associated Press in 2003.
He has covered a wide range of major stories in Greece including the country’s financial turmoil and refugee crisis, as well as being sent on multiple assignments that include the War in Iraq (2007-2009), and the aftermath of the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon in 2006, along with several major international sporting events including Olympic Games.
His work has been awarded in many prestigious photo contests, like Picture of the Year (POY), National Press Photographers Association Αwards (NPPA) and others.
SHUTTERED
Silence has replaced the soft humming of conversation and the clink of glasses that pervaded the sidewalk cafés across Athens. Their chairs and tables, once occupied throughout the day and deep into the night, are stacked in empty piles, some secured by chains.
When coronavirus cases rose again in Greece in the autumn, the government imposed a second lockdown. Retail stores, bars, restaurants and cafés found themselves shuttered once again, forced to close their doors in early November in order to prevent the virus’ insidious spread.
Retail stores opened briefly during the Christmas holidays, with social distancing measures in place, and from Monday the 5th of April on, they were allowed to reopen to customers on an appointment basis. But the restaurants, bars and cafés, which by nature gather groups of people in close proximity, will enter their sixth month of being shut, except for take away or delivery service.
