Nikos Desyllas, a photographer who spent more than five decades traveling across Greece, died recently at 83, leaving behind an unusually intimate record of a country in rapid change.
Born in Athens in 1943 and raised in Corfu, Desyllas began working professionally in 1973. He photographed rural people, landscapes, chapels, villages, animals and small details, favoring dirt roads, tradition and a classic camera over modern spectacle.
His images appeared in advertising, magazines and international organizations, including the Greek National Tourism Organization, and earned a first prize at the Venice Biennale. Sixteen photography books gathered much of his work.
In later years, physical pain did not stop him. He would climb to find his “frames,” then wait, sometimes for hours, for the right light. He was preparing a final book on Greek wine when he died. The photographs were complete, his family said, but the book was not.
Colleagues called him the “quiet giant” of photography, admiring his patience and vision.
