American photographer Robert McCabe loved Greece from the first time he visited it in the summer of 1954. The people, the monuments and the landscape drew his attention and fascinated the then 20-year-old student from Princeton University, who took advantage of every means of transport available to reach the most remote areas of Greece, which he afterwards visited again and again.
Today he divides his life and his time between New York and Athens, considering himself both American and Greek, as he told journalists during a press tour of the Archaeological Society of Athens, where his photos are on display.
The exhibition “Chronographia – Exhibition for the 180 years (1837-2017) of the Archaeological Society” that was inaugurated in December with aim to promote the role of the Society as a key institution for the formation of Greece’s national self-awareness.
The photographer himself considers the Archaeological Society to be a national institution of huge importance for Greeks in terms of shaping their national consciousness.
Through this tribute, which includes 53 black and white photos taken in 1954-1955, areas of huge archaeological importance – such as the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, Sounio, Knossos, Santorini, Mycenae, Epidaurus and Delos – welcome the visitor to a Greece that, on one hand remains the same yet on the other hand is almost unrecognizable, as the surroundings often indicate.
This is one of the main reasons that this exhibition is important, especially on the days of the tours that will be held for the public on Saturday, February 16 and March 9 at 11:30.
The exhibition, which is free of charge, will end on March 29 and will be open daily, except Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:00 to 18:00. – via amna.gr
