Book launch: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. by Michalis Patsouras

On Wednesday, October 8th, 8:00pm Hyper Hypo invites you to the book launch and exhibition of 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. by Michalis Patsouras.

The Greek public sector has long been seen as both essential and frustrating, yet it has rarely been captured on film. Michalis Patsouras’s series 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. (1993–2000) changes that, offering a behind-the-scenes look at everyday life inside the Ministry of Commerce, where, as a young man, he worked as a technician. His evocative black-and-white photos show crowded offices filled with papers, worn-out furniture, and employees caught between routine, fatigue, and small moments of joy — sharing sweets, dancing, or taking quiet breaks. Patsouras resigned in 2000 to pursue photography full-time, leaving behind the stability of civil service. His work preserves a fading world of paper files and typewriters, but also reveals something deeper: the contradictions of a system that is often resented yet relied upon, and the quiet humanity of the people who keep it running.

The series remained undiscovered and unpublished for over two decades before being presented at the Photometria Festival (Ioannina, 2022) and at the Thessaloniki Photobiennale 2023. It is now being released as a richly illustrated, duotone photo book by Hyper Hypo publications, serving as a visual document of an era that feels both recent and distant.

Michalis Patsouras is a Greek photographer based in Athens. Before turning to photography professionally, he spent ten years working at the Greek Ministry of Commerce. During that time, he also studied photography and began to develop his own creative path. In 2000, he left the public sector to devote himself fully to photography.

He began his career as a senior photographer for the magazines of a major publishing group and, since 2005, has collaborated on advertising projects, all the while maintaining a steady focus on reportage photography and his personal artistic practice. Since 2009, he has been working as a freelance photographer, concentrating on long-term projects with a social dimension and an immediate, experiential approach. His work moves between documentation and a deeply personal perspective.

From 2017 to 2021, he taught photography at the Leica Academy in Athens. He is a member of the Press Photo Union, the Athens Photography Artists Union, and FOEBUS (the Organization for the Collective Management and Protection of Intellectual Property of Photographers). His photographs are included in the collection of MOMus – Museum of Photography in Thessaloniki, and he was awarded at the Athens Photo World festival in 2022 (first prize) and 2024 (second prize).