Author's Note

The island of Rhodes has had the fortune of being photographed like no other. Nature endowed it with unique natural beauties and history blessed it with legends and traditions renowned all over the world.

The purpose of this book is to cover a period of one hundred years, from 1850 when the first photograph is estimated to have been taken there, to 1950, a date that marks the end of centuries of slavery following the events of liberation and integration with Greece.

The challenges of this endeavor were twofold. On one hand, there was a lack of adequate sources regarding the lives and activities of the photographers from that time, and on the other hand, the abundance of photographs from both professional and amateur photographers that needed to be identified and dated.

Thus, it was decided to publish the most important photographs of the city and the countryside, most of which come from my personal collection. The rest were sourced from museums and institutions in Greece and abroad, from collector friends, and from relatives of the old local photographers.

The intention was primarily to highlight the image, so the photographs were arranged in a chronological and thematic sequence, embellished with small selective texts from travelers and authors of the time.

However, this effort would not be complete without a reference to the photographers, these unsung heroes to whom we owe all these unique captures of time.

Destined to be behind the camera, the photographer locks in time, immobilizes it, and delivers it to us captured on photographic paper. Thus, each of them tells us a story that may later prove to be a valuable source of knowledge about the past. A story that they saw clearly, as illuminated by the sun, and they were among the first to see Rhodes of the last century changing and transforming.