photography | exhibition
Aegean Memories | Robert McCabe’s Iconic Photographs on View in Paros
Travel to the Greek islands of the 1950s–1970s through Robert McCabe’s iconic photographs in the Memories from the Aegean exhibition in Paros, Greece.
Captain Yiannis “Trikoulis” Kafieris (left) and Manolis “Kastorias,” a mule driver from Kontochori, rest at the kafeneio of Yialos, the harbour of Fira in Santorini. The ship Aigaion was launched in 1911 (the same year as the Titanic). It was initially used as a cruise ship and later as a passenger vessel.
This summer, Paros invites visitors to step back in time through the lens of one of the most important photographers to ever document Greece. The exhibition “Memories from the Aegean” by internationally acclaimed photographer Robert A. McCabe opens at the Porto Aoussa Art Space in Naoussa, presenting a remarkable visual archive of the Greek islands as they existed decades before mass tourism transformed them.
Organised by the Environmental and Cultural Park of Paros, the exhibition runs from March 28 to September 30, 2026, featuring 82 photographs selected by the artist himself, in collaboration with curator Costas Vidakis. For visitors to Paros, it is not only an exhibition but a rare opportunity to encounter the island and the wider Aegean as it once was.
Paros, 1954–1955. The chapel of Agios Nikolaos Thalassitis.
A fisherman repairs his fishing net in the Cyclades, photographed by Robert A. McCabe during his journeys across the Greek islands in the 1950s–1970s.
Paros, 1954–1955. A traditional windmill, once essential to the island’s agricultural life, stands beside a village taverna. Photograph by Robert A. McCabe
The Photographer Who Captured Greece Before Tourism
Robert A. McCabe’s connection with Greece began in 1954, when he first travelled to Europe as an undergraduate at Princeton University. Among the countries he visited, Greece made the deepest impression. What began as a student journey soon evolved into a lifelong photographic project.
Born in Chicago in 1934 and raised in Rye, New York, McCabe started photographing at the age of five after his father gave him a Kodak Baby Brownie camera. Early on he photographed dramatic events such as hurricanes and accidents, but as he grew older his interests shifted toward people, landscapes, and everyday life.
When he returned to Greece in 1955 and again in 1957, he travelled extensively throughout the Aegean, photographing the islands with a Rolleiflex camera and Plus-X film. During this time he produced a series of colour photographs of the Greek islands at the request of National Geographic.
What he captured during those years would later become an invaluable visual record of post-war Greece.
Chalki, Naxos, 1970. A donkey carries the children of the Paravas family through the village streets, capturing a moment from everyday life in the Cyclades when simplicity and community defined the rhythm of the islands. Photograph by Robert A. McCabe.
A Visual Archive of Post-War Greece
Today, Robert A. McCabe’s work is considered one of the most important photographic testimonies of post-war Greece and the Aegean islands. His photographs have been exhibited internationally in major cultural institutions including the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art, and the Benaki Museum, as well as in cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Seoul and New York.
Over the decades he has also published more than twenty books, many of which have become essential references for understanding the visual history of Greece. Among the most notable are Greece: Images of an Enchanted Land 1954–1965, Santorini: Portrait of a Vanished Era, Mykonos: Portrait of a Vanished Era, and Wooden Boats of the Aegean.
Together, these works form a photographic chronicle of a country in transition, preserving the landscapes, architecture, and people of Greece before rapid modernisation reshaped them.
Exhibition Details
Title: Memories from the Aegean
Artist: Robert A. McCabe
Location: Porto Aoussa Art Space, Naoussa, Paros
Opening Date: March 28, 2026
Duration: March 28 – September 30, 2026
Organised by: Environmental and Cultural Park of Paros
