Homelessness in Greece – in pictures

Stephanos is reflected in a mirror as he combs his hair before setting off to look for a job in Athens. The 40-year-old became homeless in late 2012 when the clothes shop where he had worked for over a decade closed down. He now takes shelter next to a church and eats in soup kitchens Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Alexandros sits in the abandoned car that serves as his home in the port city of Piraeus. The 42-year-old owned a plant shop in Athens but became homeless after he went out of business in 2010 Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Tareq, a 46-year-old unemployed painter, sits in the shed where he lives at an abandoned factory in Athens. Tareq, a Syrian refugee, who lived in Greece during the 1990s, returned to Syria, but fled back to Greece in 2012 to escape the civil war Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

40-year-old Yiorgos became homeless in 2010 after his grocery shop went out of business Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Marialena, a 42-year-old former drug addict with HIV, pushes away her boyfriend Dimitrios who is trying to clean up her self-inflicted wounds. Dimitrios, 51, was a dancer for a famous Greek folk dancing troupe until he lost his job three years ago and became homeless. The pair now live under a bridge in central Athens Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Adrian, a 51-year-old from Romania who has been living and working in Greece for over a decade, strips copper from a cable in Athens. He lost his job in 2011 when the lorry company he was working for closed down. He now lives in an abandoned warehouse in an Athens vegetable market and survives by collecting scrap Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Savas, a 34-year-old who became homeless in 2009 after losing his job, sleeps in a tent at an open-air photographic exhibition of homeless people organised by a charity called Klimaka in Athens. Savas became homeless after he lost his job in 2009 Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Alexis, a 43-year-old former cycling champion, begs as he sits on his mattress in Athens. He became homeless and subsequently addicted to drugs when he lost his job in 2004 Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Maximos, a 43-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who lost his job in 2010, stands by the makeshift tent where he lives in a park in central Athens Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

36-year-old Michael poses by an abandoned open-air cinema in central Athens. Michael worked as a hotel clerk for over 15 years but when the hotel closed he was unable to find work and in late 2011 became homeless. Two months later he was diagnosed with lymph node and thyroid cancer. He now lives outside a church Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters