Photographing Greece’s ‘lost generation’

Italian photographer Alessandro Penso is a relative newcomer to photography.

After buying an old camera at a Rome street market, Alessandro, 36, left a career in clinical psychology and began studying photojournalism at the School of Photography and Film in Rome. In 2007 he won several awards, and last year he won first place for general news photography at the World Press Photo awards. He shot the winning image at a center for refugees in Bulgaria.

Recently, he launched a traveling exhibition of “The Lost Generation,” a photo essay of young people in Greece. The show, titled “The European Dream Road To Brussels,” has traveled throughout Europe in a trailer full of mounted images. The show tells the story of young migrants in Greece living in desperation and in deplorable conditions. Every day, this generation confronts the challenges of living in a country torn by an economic crisis. Greece refuses asylum requests more than any other country in Europe, reaching a 99.5 percent refusal rate in 2012.

Many migrants from Middle East and Central Asia try to reach Europe through its eastern door, Greece. They see other European countries as their only hope for the future, and they attempt to leave Greece as soon as possible.

“There are more than one million immigrants living in Greece. A large number of them are barely over 18 – kids who have not been able to experience their youth,” Alessandro writes in a description of his exhibit. “They are left to fend for themselves without the least bit of assistance once they have crossed the border and dispersed into Greek territory, and they are at the mercy of everything and everyone.”

In Patras, Greece, Afghan boys throw stones into the sea. They are waiting for evening, when they will try to sneak into the port, where they hope to illegally board a ship bound for Italy. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

Mohamed, from Morocco, and his friends hide behind rocks at the port, waiting for the right moment to illegally board a ship to Italy. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

In Corinth, 17-year old Ali from Algeria lives in the old train station. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

In Orestiada, a group of migrants spend the night in the railway station after crossing the border with Turkey. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

These three teenagers from Afghanistan lived in an abandoned factory near the port of Patras. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

This young Afghan lives with some friends in an abandoned house in Patras. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

In Athens, Mohammed, from Algeria, lives inside the old Columbia Records Factory. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

In Corinth, a group of North Africans is attacked by three locals. Mostafa El Mouzdahir, a 20-year old from Morocco, was hit by a car and sustained multiple injuries. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

In Corinth, a group of North Africans is attacked by three locals. Mostafa El Mouzdahir, a 20-year old from Morocco, was hit by a car and sustained multiple injuries. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project

Mohammed, Ahmed and Nabi from Morocco, in a wagon in the abandoned train station of Corinth, where they live. Alessandro Penso/The GroundTruth Project