A new exhibition opening in Paros this spring offers a rare look at the Greek islands long before tourism reshaped them.
From March 28 to September 30, the Environmental and Cultural Park of Paros will present Memories from the Aegean, an exhibition of photographs by acclaimed American photographer Robert A. McCabe. Hosted at the Porto Aoussa Art Space in Naoussa, the exhibition brings together 82 photographs taken across the Aegean between the 1950s and the late 1970s.
The images were selected by McCabe himself together with curator Costas Vidakis and form a powerful record of the islands at a time when daily life remained closely tied to local traditions.
McCabe first arrived in Greece in 1954 while studying at Princeton University. The trip marked the beginning of a lifelong connection with Greece, and over the following years he travelled widely throughout the Aegean, photographing island communities, landscapes and the everyday scenes that defined them.
His striking photographs show a Greece that feels very distant from the one visitors encounter today. Fishermen returning from the sea with their catch, women pausing in the doorways of stone houses, and children gathering in village courtyards- these are simple, unposed moments, but together they form a portrait of traditional Greek island life.
Some of the most vivid images capture places that have since become some of the most visited destinations in the Mediterranean. In McCabe’s photographs, Mykonos and Santorini appear as small island communities, with quiet harbours, empty lanes and whitewashed houses standing against the stark Cycladic landscape.
Over the decades, McCabe’s work has been shown in leading museums and institutions, including the Acropolis Museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art and the Benaki Museum. Today his photographs are widely regarded as an important visual record of post-war Greece and the Greek islands before the arrival of modern tourism.
Seen together, the images in Memories from the Aegean offer something increasingly rare, which is a clear view of the islands before their transformation into global travel destinations.
For visitors spending time in Paros this summer, it is also a reminder of how recently that change took place.
Exhibition Details
Memories from the Aegean– Photographs by Robert A. McCabe
Date: March 28 – September 30, 2026
Address: Porto Aoussa Art Space, Naoussa, Paros
Opening: Saturday, March 28, 7pm
Admission: Free
- Greek culture Greek islands Paros Robert McCabe
- TAGS: Greek culture, Greek islands, Paros, Robert McCabe
