Robert McCabe Archives - Insights Greece

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.

Insights Greece - Greek Islands in the 1950s: Robert McCabe Exhibition in Paros

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

Striking photographs of Mykonos in the 1950s, which were beautifully captured by acclaimed photographer Robert McCabe, will be on display on the popular Cycladic island until the end of the year.

The beautiful images taken by McCabe will be shown at the Mykonos castle and archaeological museum until December 31, 2021. Titled “The island that captivated the world: Mykonos of the ’50s,” it includes photographs from McCabe’s remarkable book on the island before it became one of Greece’s most popular destinations.

Insights Greece - Robert McCabe’s Stunning Photos of 1950s Mykonos On Display — Mykonos Harbour in the 50s (image by Robert McCabe)

McCabe first visited Mykonos in the summer of 1955, and at the time was one of around fifteen visitors on the island. He recalls there were no cars, motorbikes, running water, and little electricity.

There was, however, a traditional island culture – with its own dances, songs, poetry, cuisine, textiles, architecture, even language; it was this rich culture, and this magical scenery, that McCabe set himself to document, on that initial journey and on a return visit for the National Geographic Magazine in 1957.

McCabe’s wonderful photography re-creates a daylong visit to the island (as it was back then) and includes photos of visitors disembarking from a ship in the Old Harbour, locals wandering the picturesque streets of Chora (the main town); breathtaking views of the harbour and locals going about their daily tasks: doing their laundry by the shore, delivering well water in a cart, shopping at the grocer’s.

The exhibition will also include images McCabe captured of festivals, dances, and special Feast Days that took place on the island- bringing the spirit of Mykonos to life.

And for those who can’t get to Mykonos this year, Robert McCabes’ book Mykonos: Portrait of a Vanished Era is available worldwide as a hardcover. Every photograph in the book is reproduced as a full-page tritone and accompanied by a detailed caption.

About the Author/Photographer

Robert McCabe was born in Chicago in 1934. He started taking photographs in 1939 with a Kodak Brownie given to him by his father, who published a tabloid newspaper in New York. In 1957, he photographed widely in the Cyclades at the request of the National Geographic Magazine, and he continues to photograph in Greece today. His fifteen published books encompass Greece, Cuba, China, Antarctica, and Central Park, and his forthcoming projects include The Last Monk of the Strofades, The Greeks and Their Seas, Santorini Before the Earthquake, Kasos 1965, A Portrait of Patmos, and The Waterways of France. He believes that photography is the perfect medium for what he calls poetic realism.

Greece Greece coffee table books Greek island images Greek islands Mykonos Mykonos 1950s Mykonos island photographer Robert McCabe

A new exhibition opening in Paros this spring offers a rare look at the Greek islands long before tourism reshaped them.

Exhibition Details

Striking photographs of Mykonos in the 1950s, which were beautifully captured by acclaimed photographer Robert McCabe, will be on display on the popular Cycladic island until the end of the year.

The Athens Guide