Snapshots. 12 stories from the Bank of Greece through the lens of K. Megalokonomou 

The part of K. Megalokonomou’s archive in the possession of the Historical Archive of the Bank of Greece features diverse images of everyday moments in the Bank, but also of activities befitting of the Bank’s institutional role at the head of the country’s banking system.

As such, many of the photos taken by Megalokonomou, one of the accredited photographers to cover presentations and events at the Bank of Greece between 1947 and 1992, inevitably lend themselves to interpretation at a deeper level or in a wider context, providing a broader picture of post-war Greece till the early 1990s.

Megalokonomou’s coverage of events, while bringing special occasions to the fore, underscores the potential of photography as a medium of communication, even – or perhaps more than we would expect – at times when the diffusion and sharing of information was slower, but the impact of the image in daily news coverage was still powerful. At the same time, it reveals the keen perceptiveness as a photographer of Megalokonomou – known to his fellow photojournalists as “the Master”: a combination of personal technique and aesthetics that often tells more than meets the eye.

The exhibition presents photographs taken by K. Megalokonomou at various economic, political, social or cultural events of the Bank: General Meetings of shareholders; Governor Georgios Mantzavinos’s crucial trip to Washington (1949-1950); the announcement of the “new Drachma” by Finance Minister Spyridon Markezinis (1954); the farewell reception in honour of Elias Venezis, newly elected to the Academy of Athens (1957); the presentation of awards to the winners of the short story competitions organised by the Bank’s staff magazine O Kyklos (1961, 1963); the art exhibitions held at the premises of the Bank of Greece Employees’ Union (1947, 1951); the reception hosted by Governor Xenophon Zolotas in honour of the ravishing Elizabeth Taylor (1958); meetings between the King and representatives of business associations at the Bank’s Head Office (1958-1966); a private slide projection of “luminous charts” for Premier Konstantinos Karamanlis (1962); the lottery bond issues during the military dictatorship (1969, 1970); the action taken by Panagis Papaligouras and Xenophon Zolotas to boost economic recovery after the fall of the military dictatorship (1974); the appointment of Gerasimos Arsenis to the helm of the Bank of Greece and his subsequent appointment as National Economy Minister (1981, 1982).

At the same time, the exhibition attempts to expand the narrative’s time frame: 12 narrative texts accompany the selected 12 events. Each story, corresponding to a particular event and group of snapshots, along with press clippings and archival documents introduces the protagonists, narrates and interprets the events unfolding, placing them in their broader historical context, while also providing background information, including the general economic, political and social circumstances of each period.