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Voula Papaioannou is a very significant Greek photographer. One source suggests tht she is the only photographer who capture key moments in modern Greek history. We anot sure that is the case, but she certainly is one of the few and one who capuured the lives of the common people during the traumatic years of the 20th century. She was one of the pioneer women photographers in Greece and a contemprary of Nelly's. She was born in Lamia in central Greece (1898), but grew up in Athens. She began working as a photographer during the 1930s, concentrating at first on studies of landscapes, monuments and archaeological exhibits, but then shifting to people, esprcially childten. With the Italian invasion of Greece, she pursued documentary photography (1940). She photograophed Greek-Italian War (1940-41), includung the troops departing for the front and the resulting casualties of war. With the German invasion (1941) she documented the resulting German and Italian occupation (1941-44). This of course had some political overtiones, but she managed to steer clear of the occupation authorities. She caotured images of the terrible Great Famine the Gernmans caused. She photographed hungary, emaciated children. She documented the hunger, poverty and destitution that Greece was subbjected by the NAZIs. Her most important work is the hand made-4 copies only "To lefkoma tis peinas" (The album of starvation) with photographs of emanciated children in Axis (German and Italian) occupied Greece during World War II. These images of children in occupied Greece (along with those of the concentration camps) are among the most shocking we have ever seen. With liberation, working with the photographic unit of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), she traveled ravaged Greek countryside recording what thec Germans left in their wake. She then recorded the impact of the Greek Civil War (1948). She later portrayed a realist view of the post war Greece. Voula Papaioannou's work represents the trend towards 'humane photography' that arose as a result of the abuse of human rights during the war. Her camera captured her compatriots' struggle for survival with respect. She is often compared to the American Lewis Hine and his focus on child labor. Not all of her work had dark overtines. We note nymerius images of happy children at plasy in posdt-War Greece. All her unpublished photographes were donated by her to Benaki Museum in Athens. She left some 12,500 images showcasing much od modern Greek life at mid-centuru (1930s-50s). She left a remararkable record of the harsh everyday life endured by the Greek people. One photographic historian's assessment is that she, "modestly and honestly recording faces and things of a tortured and deprived Greece."
Voula Papaioannou is a very significant Greek photographer. One source suggests tht she is the only photographer who capture key moments in modern Greek history. We anot sure that is the case, but she certainly is one of the few and one who capuured the lives of the common people during the traumatic years of the 20th century. She was one of the pioneer women photographers in Greece and a contemprary of Nelly's. She was born in Lamia in central Greece (1898), but grew up in Athens.
She began working as a photographer during the 1930s, concentrating at first on studies of landscapes, monuments and archaeological exhibits, but then shifting to people, esprcially childten.
With the Italian invasion of Greece, she pursued documentary photography (1940). She photograophed Greek-Italian War (1940-41), includung the troops departing for the front and the resulting casualties of war. With the German invasion (1941) she documented the resulting German and Italian occupation (1941-44). This of course had some political overtiones, but she managed to steer clear of the occupation authorities. She caotured images of the terrible Great Famine the Gernmans caused. She photographed hungary, emaciated children. She documented the hunger, poverty and destitution that Greece was subbjected by the NAZIs. Her most important work is the hand made-4 copies only "To lefkoma tis peinas" (The album of starvation) with photographs of emanciated children in Axis (German and Italian) occupied Greece during World War II. These images of children in occupied Greece (along with those of the concentration camps) are among the most shocking we have ever seen. With liberation, working with the photographic unit of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), she traveled ravaged Greek countryside recording what thec Germans left in their wake. She then recorded the impact of the Greek Civil War (1948).
She later portrayed a realist view of the post war Greece. Voula Papaioannou's work represents the trend towards 'humane photography' that arose as a result of the abuse of human rights during the war. Her camera captured her compatriots' struggle for survival with respect. She is often compared to the American Lewis Hine and his focus on child labor.
Not all of her work had dark overtines. We note nymerius images of happy children at plasy in post-War Greece. These are some ofv the most wonderful images of children being children taken in Grece. Here we would liken her work more like French humanist photographer Robert Doisneau, a little less quirky. Mist of these light-hearted images were part of her work from the 1950s. Her images are meant to be casual, candid photogrphs, imprtabnt when photographing children, but we suspect that many were carefully posed, especially gthe group photos. Others are ckearly beautiful cabndid images like the boys here probably after school (figure 1).
Papaioannou had a long life. She lived until 1989. But for some reason we do nit find much in the way of phoyograohy after the 1950s. We are nit sure why her substantial pghotographic output ceased at that time. Dhe donated her unpublished photographes to the Benaki Museum in Athens. The collection includes some 12,500 images showcasing much of modern Greek life at mid-century (1930s-50s). She left a remararkable record of the harsh everyday life endured by the Greek people during this period. One photographic historian's assessment is that she, "modestly and honestly recording faces and things of a tortured and deprived Greece."
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