Both in the past and today there are monks who have become successful photographers. They have produced remarkable work which has strengthened the faith and piety even of people who have never made the pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain.

One of these monk-photographers is Father Chariton of the Great Lavra. For many years he has walked up and down the length of Mount Athos on its dirt roads and footpaths. It was not easy, but he captured ascetic faces wrinkled by the weight of years, and tried to immortalize their evocative gaze, fixed on approaching eternity.

Besides the compunctionate visages of the dwellers of the Holy Mountain, Father Chariton has also captured the beauty of this Garden of the Virgin: the buildings and holy relics, the plants and flowers, the animals, birds and insects.