On a photography assignment in Athens for Greece Is magazine, I embarked on a culture walk in Athens that transcended the usual tourist route. My camera traced hidden alleys, bold street art, and architectural dialogues between ancient and contemporary — a visual narrative of a city in constant evolution. The resulting reportaz ties together art, memory, and modern identity, through a lens both curious and observant.

Starting from the pulse of Syntagma and the National Gardens, the walk led me through neighborhoods where walls speak louder than guides. Graffiti, murals, fragments of modern sculpture — all part of Athens’ living canvas. In this journey I was particularly drawn to EMST, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, whose curatorial vision anchors Athens’ dialogue with international art discourses. The museum, housed in the former FIX brewery, hosts a permanent collection of 172 works by 78 Greek and international artists, including Costas Varotsos, whose glass “Varotsos Runner” sculpture punctuates the cityscape with spectral motion.

My lens captured how Varotsos’s The Runner (Δρομέας) seems to sprint through urban time — a fitting symbol for a city always in flux. At one point, I paused in front of its fractured glass plates, letting light refract into visions of Athens’ past and possible futures.
Among the highlights was a striking work by Athens-based artist INO, whose large-scale graffiti injects social commentary and a bold visual identity into the city’s urban fabric

Throughout the walk, I also reflected on how the journalistic and cultural ecosystems intersect. My images will accompany the Greece Is story, contributing to its immersive quality, while I aim to engage larger audiences—readers of Kathimerini will recognize the city’s ongoing conversation with culture and reportage.