Retail Isolation Photo Series by Traianos Pakioufakis

Aesop.

Eden.

Jac+Jack.

Sydney photographer and art director, Traianos Pakioufakis, shared with us a personal series of images he’s been working on during the pandemic. Captured during afternoon walks to the supermarket, Traianos has photographed retail stores in his North Bondi neighbourhood during the lockdown. “Despite the stores being closed, I found a quiet beauty in their temporary stasis: from Aesop’s hand-painted storefront windows, Jac + Jack’s counter-top hand sanitiser, and vegan restaurant Eden’s hastily-stored outdoor seating,” he says.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I was really drawn to the warmth and the simplicity of these images. I feel like Traianos really captured the current mood in his series – the images feel warm but nostalgic, eerie but hopeful. Much like the times we’re living in right now. To me, they also serve as a little reminder of the importance of observing our surroundings and being conscious of the little daily things we may take for granted. It’s a new take on our new reality if you will.

I had a brief chat with Traianos about this series too. Read on for what he had to say.

LeLabo.

+ Can you tell us a little more about how this series came about, and your approach in capturing the images?

I more or less walk the same routes every day, between the supermarket and the post office. Around mid-March, I noticed that Aesop had painted their shop window from the inside—with visible, tactile brushstrokes—and I was impressed that even their quick-reaction temporary closure looked good. I photographed it and didn’t really think anything of it until I saw the sunlight picking out the hand sanitiser on a closed Jac+ Jack counter a couple of days later. I found a quiet beauty in the stores’ temporary stasis.

+ Do these images and your process in capturing them differ from how you usually work, and if so – how?

Yes and no. The way I approached these photographs isn’t so different to how I’d work with a client such as Pattern Studio. That said, in my personal work I’m generally only interested in beauty and composition, and I rarely have anything to say, so this set definitely acts as a social document. That’s a new layer for my work, for sure.

Saturdays NYC.

Anonymous North Bondi shopfront.

+ How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your life day-to-day and your work?

I feel extremely fortunate to say that other than the airport and beach closing (rightly so), and of course, some jobs being cancelled, my life is almost the same as I work from home anyhow. It’s also the first time I’ve felt truly “too far” away from my family in Western Australia, despite living abroad in the past. Also as a freelancer, I’m used to some peaks and troughs, and right now it still only feels like a minor trough. Let’s see.

+ How are you feeling right now and how would you like to emerge on the other side of this situation?

I’m feeling calm and patient. A major change has already occurred and I’m doing my best to adapt to how things are, rather than wait for things to return to how they were. Onwards, basically.

+ Any interesting facts or surprisingly realisations that came from this series?

Actually, yes! It’s rare that I photograph or document the city I live in, so to see this series come together with the places I walk past every day has surprised me a lot.