second chance

For many of us some things, like the completion of primary education at a young age, are considered as given. For others though, adverse circumstances have thwarted their plans. People, of any age, under the burden of the current economic crisis and unemployment, decide to return to school, to obtain a degree. These students vary; they are involved – besides obtaining the necessary qualifications – in a personal struggle with time, they try to win back the lost opportunity, they attempt to redefine themselves or even to fulfil the expectations of their loved ones.

The Second Chance is a personal project for the SCS (Second Chance School) of Mytilene, Greece. It consists of a series of portraits of pupils (Greeks and immigrants), teachers, as well as photographs of the school area. In this way, we recorded the school ecosystem and its ramifications. We also took pictures of students' objects and we collected student manuscripts, answering questions about their past and their hopes for the future, which, in some cases, constitute comprehensive confessions of their lives and recollections.

More about “second chance” at: www.panos-mary.com/second-chance