From March 7th to May 17th, 2026, Onassis Stegi in Athens will host Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs, the first-ever exhibition in Greece dedicated to the celebrated director, producer, and screenwriter. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to explore the filmmaker’s distinctive eye through photography, revealing new dimensions of his creative vision.
Cinematic spaces and personal vision
The exhibition brings together four bodies of work, comprising 182 still photographs made over the past five years. Three series emerge from the fringes of Lanthimos’ cinematic worlds—captured on film locations in New Orleans, Atlanta, and on reconstructed cities on Budapest soundstages. These images, featured in his recent books Dear God, the Parthenon Is Still Broken (2024), i shall sing these songs beautifully (2024), and viscin (2026), offer a contemplative look at the interplay of light, space, and narrative outside the motion of film. Previously unseen photographs from the set of Bugonia (2025) are also included.
In addition, the exhibition unveils for the first time a series of personal photographs taken in Greece. During solitary walks in Athens and across Aegean islands, Lanthimos focuses on the ordinary and the familiar, transforming everyday landscapes into studies of composition, shadow, and form. These images reveal a quieter, meditative approach, highlighting photography as a medium of abstraction and reflection distinct from his filmmaking practice.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ visual odyssey and its form in the space
The exhibition is designed in the form of a classical Greek temple. A central altar-like space displays 110 new works, while the outer perimeter showcases images connected to Lanthimos’ films, guiding visitors from the familiar cinematic universe to more intimate, personal explorations. This spatial arrangement mirrors the creative journey of the artist, from constructed filmic worlds to contemplative observation.
Curated by Michael Mack and produced by Onassis Stegi, the exhibition coincides with the release of Lanthimos’ photo book viscin (2026), which collects images from both his film sets and Greek landscapes. Mack notes, “Yorgos Lanthimos is a singular talent in the use of a camera lens to build narratives, and this exhibition establishes his flourishing capacity to elicit emotional and intellectual leaps of faith beyond the frame of a still photograph.”
Courtesy of YORGOS LANTHIMOS and MACK
