Memory is created in places and goes on to live within them in various ways. What is the feeling that prevails when a place changes and everything that it entails is replaced by something new? This is not just about the loss of a place but also about the gradual loss of the memories associated with this place.

Social anthropologist Paul Connerton notes that the basic human pursuit is the preservation of memory. Photographic documentation is perhaps the best way to achieve this as it is the link between memory and oblivion. Through the photographic process, the historical memory can become collective and be preserved via its transmission. to the next generations. Connerton’s main assertion is that the present cannot exist without awareness of the past – while the past is inextricably linked to the present through empirical knowledge.

The old airport of Hellenikon in Athens is a place experiencing radical change. For decades, it was the bridge between Greece and the rest of the world, until its closure in 2001 when it began being gradually abandoned. In the coming years, it is poised to change dramatically with just a few surviving buildings linking it to its prosperous past. This final photographic documentation of the airport is another visual testimony aiming to facilitate the return of the collective memory to this place and serve as a reminder that it was a significant part of Greece’s history.