Bipolar Days: Intimate photos of Greece, mid-crisis, from Panagiotis Maidis

How do you see the world? That was one of the first questions we asked photographer Panagiotis Maidis when we were researching participants for Interrupt This Program in Athens (which airs January 4 at 7 p.m.). The answer lies in his black-and-white series of photographsBipolar Days,which offers a unique perspective on the crisis in Greece seen through the lens of anAthenian.

"I'm not a classic documentary photographer," Panagiotis admits. "My perspective is to try and always give a sense of the atmosphere not so much what happened but how it feels to be there. That's what I have in my mind.Despite what I live or what I see, my camera always tries always to have something interesting in photos. Whether it's a party or a full-blown demonstration."

For Interrupt This Program, Panagiotis took us into the neighborhood his family was raised in, on the outskirts of Athens, where the crisis hit hardest. At night, we followed him as he photographed a Syrian refugee demonstration calling for the government to allow more refugees into the country. The demonstration began at Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament in central Athens.

Before the crisis began in 2009, the Greek government and its citizens were spending a vast amount of borrowed money that they could not afford to pay back within a reasonable period of time. This lead to adebt crisis andausterity, which in turn spearheaded a series of demonstrations and protests in the country's capital of Athens.

Panagiotis has been photographing the demonstrations since their early beginnings, taking it upon himself to document the ongoing struggles in his city and country. When asked if he would ever leave Athens, he replied "Many of my friends, especially those who have a good degree, or who want to make a career, they all left at the start of the crisis and I was thinking of that all the time. But I like it here, especially where I grew up. And I thought that some of us should stay and fight here, see what happens."

In his Bipolar Days series, Panagiotis photographs moments often unseen in times of crisis moments of sorrow, disappointment, anger, fear and even humour. Among his portraits, you'll find the elderly, the homeless, stray dogs as well as dancers, artists and activists in the streets. In other words, Panagiotis captures the light and the dark of daily existence in a city whose hope for the future lies in the hands of everyone but the people who inhabit it.

"Bipolar Days helps me to manage the good and bad things in my life it is a reflection of how I see the world around me,"saysPanagiotis. "I see contrast everywhere."

To view his Bipolar Days series, follow him on Twitter andInstagram. And later this month, Panagiotis will take over the @cbcartsInstagram account to give us a glimpse of New Year's Eve in Athens. Interrupt This Program: Athens airson January 4 at 7:30 p.m.