It was a city with a lot of mines where thousands of workers slaved under almost barbaric conditions. The total lack of environmental measures wounded it deeply and the “scars” can be seen up until today. After Lavrio was de-industrialized, the factories were left abandoned and ramshackled. However, this picture of destruction, created over time, is unexpectedly attractive. The area looks like an endless outdoor studio, where the color of rust prevails. Next to the piles of forgotten metals there are old buildings that have been renovated and have acquired significant visual value. The natural habitat is also amazing. And all of this, close to Athens. Photographers will definitely be impressed!

The “Art Athina 2017” International Contemporary Art Fair took place at the Tae Kwon Do Hall at Faliro from the 25th to the 28th of May. This fair is an annual event in Athens and is highly anticipated by many. The artwork presented in this article is just a small sample of what was showcased and in random order. Photographs don’t do the artwork justice as the pictures were taken with non-specialized equipment, during a tour of the fair.

Eleusis used to be a small fisherman's village in 1860. The first industry founded in 1875 was the soap industry of the Charilaou brothers, from Galatsi of Romania. After almost 20 years, one of the two brothers, who had studied chemistry in France and in Germany, consorted with Nicholas Kanellopoulos, also a chemist, and their soap production reached 600.000 tones. It was then when the well-known "Eleusis Soap" was introduced to the market and competed with the French soaps on even terms.

The Acropolis Museum is amongst the most modern in the world. It has a weird energy, which can be accredited to the immense beauty of the statues. The most beautiful statues of all times stand one beside the other and enchant the visitors. The Greeks visit the museum with their children. Classic ancient art is part of everyday life for Athenians. The huge glass surfaces of the building let plenty of light in regardless if it’s winter of summer. Sundays at the museum strongly resemble old-style celebrations. Crowds of visitors’ flock to the museum; a tight squeeze, but a wondrous one.

The Stavros Niarhos Foundation Cultural Center enchants numerous visitors. The "heart" of the center is the amazing building complex, by the hand of architect Renzo Piano, where all the sophisticated concert halls and galleries are housed. The complex is surrounded by a garden which extends for hundreds of acres and includes outdoor concert halls and a water canal for sailboats. It is truly a monumental project which will be completed in 2016 and will be donated to the Greek state in 2017. (Editor's note: Τhis album includes photographs from the outdoors. An album with photos from the indoors will be created at a later date)

The International Contemporary Art Fair “21st Art Athina” kicked off on the 26th of May and ended on the 29th. The fair is an annual event and every year, it is a little bit more successful than the last. It was organized for the first time by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association in 1993 and since then it has been steadily helping contemporary art gain more fans in Greece.

The indignant Greeks of Syntagma square in Athens are divided into two categories. The only relationship between them is their opposition to the Memorandum's economic policy and the unsound Greek political system. The first and the most multitudinous group are being gathered at the upper frieze in front of the parliament's building and the second one at the lower space of the square.

In Perama, Piraeus, lies a degraded shipbuilding zone, home to a couple thousand workers. Their job is hard and perilous and as a result lives have been lost. The trade unions of the area are very powerful and they don't allow the slightest violation of labour legislation by the employers' side. They would rather starve to death than lose the rights they obtained after sacrifices. The shipbuilding zone of Perama is interesting only to photographers -a “grey” place of sunken faces and half-sunken hulls dying in the filthy waters.

"Was it not for the protection of our trade unions, we would have surely died. Our job has nothing to do with being a civil servant. We dislike unions, like ADEDY, which opened their doors to the corrupt political parties and allowed them to destroy the labor movement".