Robert A. McCabe took his first photographs in 1939, at the age of five. During a trip to Europe in 1954, he captured the first of many iconic photographs of Greece. A visit to Kasos in 1965 resulted in the largest number of photographs you will find in this book. He has published more than 16 albums and has exhibited his work in many places in Greece, London, Paris, Brussels, and several locations in the USA.

His books cover themes and locations in Greece, France, Italy, New York, Havana, China, and Antarctica. In August 1965, a young American photographer visits Kasos, on a mission to take a series of photographs to accompany the text of a book about the history of the island. These photographs, which ultimately remained in a drawer until 2013, form the core of this book, accompanied by texts from two exceptional residents of Kasos, Nikos Mastropaulos and Marilen Fragouli Kedros.

“At the depth of its soul, the cosmopolitan yet introverted Kasos still constitutes an exotic place, a paradise of living islandness, where customs from the years of innocence are revived, as it continues to travel beyond the tourist stream. Before the visitor's interest in its remote world is capitalized on, there is the genuine interest of the people of Kasos for the stranger, who defied the many hardships of the long journey to anchor at the new port of Bouka. They care about the opinion the stranger will form about them and make space for him to sit beside them at their festivities, where the depths of their souls are revealed. For, even if Kasos had walked the paths of globalization before Globalization, it preserves intact its unique culture, its festivals, its merriment, its music, its dances, its songs, its gastronomy, against a natural and largely undisturbed backdrop.” NIKOS G. MASTROPAULOS

“The first time Robert mentioned that he first visited Kasos in the 1960s, I thought he was mistaken. No one went to Kasos back then unless they had some relation to the island. [...] Robert's photographs capture Kasos as it still is today, rugged and true to itself, seemingly suspended in time. You walk the island and see the exact same images again and again. To the untrained eye, Kasos may seem simple and unpretentious, but it is far more refined than one might imagine. It has its own underlying music, the land, the sea, its craftsmanship, the food, the hospitality, and a traditional culture invisible to the casual visitor. The social and historical fabric of the island remains untouched.” MARILEN FRAGOULI KEDROS