Constantine Manos: Bostonians

Revisiting the late Magnum photographer's iconic portrait of a city on the brink of seismic change, with fresh contextual essays and oral histories with notable Bostonians

Published with Boston Athenaeum.

In Bostonians, celebrated American photographer Constantine Manos (1934–2025) captures Boston on the brink—of celebration, transformation and unrest. Commissioned for the 1975 Bicentennial exhibition Where's Boston?, Manos' nine-month photographic journey offers a vibrant, nuanced portrait of daily life through street scenes, interiors and public moments. In the 1970s, the city was diverse in age, class, race and religion, and undergoing seismic changes. Manos' photos offer glimpses of the political dissent and grassroots activism that defined the era: anti-busing protests, labor strikes and demands for racial and gender equity.
Presented for the first time with contextual essays about the photographer, the series and Boston's urban fabric of the 1970s, this publication revisits the iconic project with fresh insight. It also includes passages from newly conducted oral histories with individuals pictured in the photographs, as well as with politicians, artists and activists who shaped the era.