Acclaimed auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, celebrated for his absurdist explorations of human relationships and distinctive world-building, turns his lens once again toward the still image. Coinciding with a major new exhibition currently on display at Onassis Stegi in Athens, Lanthimos has partnered with MACK Books to release VISCIN, a beguiling new artist’s book shot on the set of his 2025 feature film, Bugonia.
While VISCIN was photographed spontaneously between takes on the Bugonia sets, the resulting images present a story entirely untethered from the film’s narrative conventions. Lanthimos utilizes offbeat compositions, uncanny portraiture, and evocative landscapes to weave a standalone tale of mystery, illusion, death, and renewal.
True to the director’s innovative style, the physical publication itself is a sculptural object. Designed with an accordion—or leporello—fold, the book mimics the unspooling of a film reel. As readers unfold the pages, they are taken on a visual journey of foreboding and rebirth, marked by a deliberate progression from stark black-and-white photography into vivid color imagery.
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The launch of VISCIN arrives in tandem with ‘Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs,’ a sweeping exhibition at Onassis Stegi in Athens that offers deep insight into the visionary’s rapidly growing body of photographic work. Commissioned and produced by Onassis Stegi and curated by Michael Mack, the show brings together 182 still photographs taken over the last five years.
This includes works from his previous MACK publications—Dear God, the Parthenon Is Still Broken (shot alongside 2023’s Poor Things), and i shall sing these songs beautifully (from 2024’s Kinds of Kindness)—as well as previously unseen images from the new VISCIN series.
Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs” exhibition at Onassis Stegi in Athens runs from March 7, 2026, to May 17, 2026, and VISCIN (2026) by Yorgos Lanthimos, published by MACK.
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026).
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026).
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026).
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK
Yorgos Lanthimos, from VISCIN (MACK, 2026)
Image Credit: Courtesy of the artist and MACK