In Greece, due to COVID, a 24-hour restriction on movement has been imposed, with exceptions. Outside movement is allowed only for specific reasons and by sending an SMS to the five-digit mobile phone service 13033. SMS (Code 2) is for going to the supermarket if it is not possible for groceries to be delivered. SMS (Code 6) is for exercising outdoors (jogging) or walking a pet, solitary or strictly in pairs and observing the necessary distance of 1.5 meters from one another. During the latest lockdown, this has been further restricted to a 2-km (1.2-mile) radius from people’s homes. There are other options of course, such as for going to the pharmacy, or even a funeral, but these 2 Codes are the ones that—sort of—allow me to shoot some photos (there is no Code for going out to shoot :p).

Things in Greece suck in general, and getting vaccinated any time soon seems completely improbable. I’m already completely sick of walking outside with a mask (especially as a person with glasses AND a beard), I’m sick of not seeing my friends, I’m sick of not being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want, I’m sick of loved ones getting sick, I’m sick of hearing about all the senseless deaths caused, not by the pandemic, but by the weak, narrow-minded, money-driven, often blatantly fascist response of the government.

During this time, I wasn’t really in the mood to take photos, but I sort of forced myself to take my camera with me every time I went out, using Code 2 or Code 6, and to take more photos than I would usually take on a short walk. Going through the routine of shooting, developing and scanning the films has really helped give me some sense of “normalcy” in these very abnormal times.

So here is a collection of photos I have taken in the past couple of months while walking towards the supermarket or “exercising,” within my 2-km allotted radius (all of them shot on Ilford HP5):

So there you have it. They’re not particularly great photos, but I shot them and I felt better. Hope we all feel better sooner rather than later.
Till the next time