Special to the Sun
The Boston Athenaeum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the seminal 1975 exhibition, ‘Where’s Boston?,’ featuring the photography of Constantine Manos.
This new exhibition opens June 15. ‘Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later’ reexamines Manos’s vivid portraits of everyday life across Boston’s neighborhoods, highlighting the city’s cultural diversity and shared humanity.
Curated by Lauren Graves, the exhibition explores Manos’s expansive lens as he highlights the dynamic everyday life of Boston. To make this series, Manos immersed himself in the rhythms of city life. His photographs explore Boston in all its complexities, highlighting the medley of old and new architecture, residents of all ages, and varied cultural traditions. Created as Boston grappled with desegregation, shifting demographics, and political uncertainty, Manos’s photographs reflect both the vitality of the city and the tensions embedded in its public spaces. He documents iconic Boston hubs like Faneuil Hall and the Boston Common and expands his lens to Roxbury, Dorchester, and the South End. The series captures bustling streets, protests, markets, and parades alongside quieter interior moments and intimate gestures. The aim of this exhibition is to explore Manos’s vivid composite portrait of Boston at a moment of profound social and cultural change.
“Manos’s work is multilayered—at once intensely intimate and strikingly legible.” Lauren Graves, Associate Curator at Boston Athenaeum, said in a press release. “Each photograph invites close looking, revealing new stories as its layers unfold. What first appears simple ultimately prompts questions of perspective, voice, history, and access within Boston’s landscape.”
While researching this exhibition, Graves and Michelle LeBlanc, Athenaeum director of education, conducted an extensive search to identify people featured in Manos’s photographs. Through weeks of tabling at senior and community centers and monitoring and engaging with online community groups. Graves and LeBlanc identified 27 photo subjects and conducted oral history interviews with more than 15 people. These oral histories, featured in the exhibition and preserved in the Athenaeum’s archive, invite subjects to share their stories, memories, and reflections on the moments captured and on the era they represent.
“’Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later’ is a visual celebration that captures the vibrant spirit of the city and is a joy for anyone who loves Boston,” added Leah Rosovsky, Stanford Calderwood Director at the Boston Athenaeum. “The photos are absolutely fabulous—each one tells a story and sparks memories of the many neighbors that bring our city to life. We’re delighted to share Manos’s work, which will call viewers back to the city in 1975.”
Manos’s photographs are timely as the nation starts America250 activations. His work holds a mirror to Boston and asks viewers to reflect on how changes and conflicts have shaped the city and how half a century can transform a place while remaining rooted in historical identities.
Constantine Manos (1934-2025) was born in Columbia, S.C., and started his photography career in a school camera club. At 19, he arrived in Boston to be the official photographer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 1963, he was invited to join the photography collective Magnum Photos, known for maintaining high ethical standards and intentional storytelling through photography.