By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
Roam if you want to! Our JUNE BEST PHOTO PICKS will help guide you to photo exhibits & events throughout metro Boston and New England. As always, we have arranged our listings geographically for your planning convenience. But now that summer is upon us, we have added shows farther afield to encourage your wanderlust even more. We invite you to check back often, as we update and add to our listings throughout the month.
BOSTON PROPER
“Sunday morning flea market, Faneuil Hall” by Constantine Manos, courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery and Boston Athenaeum.
Boston Athenaeum (BA) – In 1974, Constantine Manos (1935-2025) was commissioned to create documentary photographs for the Where’s Boston? bicentennial exhibition to take place in 1976. His dynamic black and white photographs offer glimpses of public gatherings and private moments—protests, parades, flea markets, diners, and games— from every corner of the city and its diverse cultures. To celebrate our 250th anniversary, the BA is presenting a Manos retrospective, Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later, that not only recalls the era of Boston’s bicentennial, but asks viewers from the communities he photographed to come forward with their stories and perhaps even identification of the people in Manos’ photographs. Not only a trip down Memory Lane but a quest to connect the past to the present. On view in the Norma Jean Calderwood Gallery beginning June 16th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://bostonathenaeum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/50-years-later-wheres-boston/
“Cuenca (Crowded Bus)” by Cristobal Hara (Spanish, born in 1946), about 1973 Photograph, gelatin silver print. Gift of Peter Soriano, © Cristóbal Hara, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – “Faces in the Crowd: Street Photography” presents a five-decade global slice of street photography that brings us up to the present. This gem-like show features the images of twenty-five photographers drawn from the museum’s collection. Their viewpoints illuminate individual and collective responses to socio-political changes, but also the ways in which people’s attitudes and gestures remain familiar over time. On view in the Herb Ritts Gallery through July 26th, 2026.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/faces-in-the-crowd-street-photography-at-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/
For more information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/faces-in-the-crowd-street-photography
“Fazendo a América/Making America” by Rosângela Rennó on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Also on view at MFA, Boston – Fazendo a América (Making America), a solo show featuring the work of Brazilian artist Rosângela Rennó (b. 1962). Using images from private and public archives as well as anonymous photographs, she creates immersive installations that reframe history and memory, provoking questions about how photography affects narratives of Latin American political unrest and military dictatorships. The exhibit also includes Rennó’s MFA-commissioned portraits of Brazilian immigrants to the U.S., illuminating the role photographs play in preserving and connecting histories that may be forgotten or overlooked. On view through August 2nd, 2026.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/fazendo-a-america-making-america-rosangela-renno-at-the-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/
For more information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/fazendo-a-america
“Arlington Street, 1988” from the Living With AIDS project by Salvatore Lopes, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.
Leica Gallery Boston – Photographer Salvatore Lopes’s “Living With AIDS” links three documentary projects he made between 1988 – 1992 exploring how the city of Boston was affected at the beginning of the AIDS crisis: the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt (above); the Buddy Program, sponsored by the AIDS Action Committee of MA; and the Boyce family, whose adopted daughter was living with AIDS. Just outside the gallery in the Park Plaza Corridor, photographer Mav Fernandez’ series “Between Them” delves into sibling relationships and family bonds. On view beginning on Thursday, June 4th with an Opening Reception from 6:00 – 8:00pm.
For more information, go to: https://leicagalleryboston.com/gallery-events/
“Big Old Elm (departed), Back Bay, Boston, MA” by Bruce Myren, 2023, courtesy of the artist.
The Scollay Square Gallery at Boston City Hall – Trees play an enormous role in our environment, not just ecologically, but metaphorically and spiritually. Bruce Myren’s reverence for them is manifested in his project “Return of the Elms.” It is included in Learning From Trees curated by Martina Tanga which also features painter Joel Janowitz and the artist collective known as just practice. On view through August 14th with a reception planned for June 11th from 5 to 7pm.
For more information and to register for the reception: https://www.boston.gov/departments/arts-and-culture/scollay-square-gallery
From the series Standing Still in a Constant State of Departure by Landry Major and Cash Kasper, courtesy of the artists.
Griffin Museum Gallery in Lafayette City Center (LCC) – Curated by Michael Kirchoff, Editor-in-Chief of Analog Forever Magazine, The Pause Between Seeing and Knowing features analog photographic work by Twinkle Banerjee, Harley Cowan, Jacek Gąsiorowski, Osheen Harruthoonyan, and Landry Major with Cash Kasper (photo above). Each artist combines vision and craft in ways that express intentionality and contemplation, relishing process and inviting viewers to slow down and join in. On view through June 30th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/show/the-pause-between-seeing-and-knowing-an-analog-forever-magazine-exhibition-2/
“Home is Here, Home is There” 2020, from the Mars on Earth series by Cassandra Klos, courtesy of the artist and Panopticon Gallery, Boston.
Panopticon Gallery, Kenmore Square – At a time when the boundaries of exploration are expanding once again, Moonage Daydream features four photographers who ponder both physical and metaphysical aspects of outer space. Cassandra Klos (above), Bill Finger, Molly Lamb and Marky Kauffmann bring their diverse approaches together in a questioning exhibition. On view through July 31st, 2026, there will be an Opening Reception with the artists on Thursday, June 11th from 6:00 – 8;00pm.
For more information, go to: https://www.panopticongallery.com/
The Boston Press Photographers Association’s 6th Annual Pictures of the Year outdoor exhibition.
Outdoors in Boston! – Here’s a great summer treat. The Boston Press Photographers Association (BPPA) presents its juried 6th Annual Pictures of the Year exhibit in two outdoor venues during June. You can view the display at Boston University’s George Sherman Union through June 14th, 2026. From June 15th – June 29th, 2026, the exhibition will be displayed at Christopher Columbus Park.
For more information and directions, go to: https://www.bppa.net/
SOWA – Boston’s South End Arts District
“Chermine, Hamra, Beirut, Lebanon, 2022” from Where Do I Go? by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston and Leica Gallery Boston.
The Project Space – As unremitting attacks on Lebanon persist, Lebanese-American photographer Rania Matar’s solo exhibit Where Do I Go? rings timely and profound, nuanced and declarative. Her arresting, collaborative environmental portraits of young Lebanese women (facing circumstances similar to Matar’s during the Lebanese Civil War 50 years ago) embody remarkable grace and strength as they struggle to find a way forward. This new collaborative project space co-created by RKG and SEA-DAR presents Where Do I Go? as its inaugural exhibition, featuring an expanded selection of images from Matar’s book and recently closed show at Leica Gallery Boston. Located at 580 Harrison Avenue, 4th Floor, the exhibit will be on view through September 19th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/exhibitions/
“Back and Hands” 1984, from the Self-Portrait series by John Coplans, courtesy of Anderson Yezerski Gallery, Boston.
Anderson Yezerski Gallery – A rare opportunity to see arresting silver gelatin photographs from the Self-Portrait series by John Coplans (1920-2003). By photographing his own aging male body, Coplans empathized and reflected on the feminist movement during the 1980’s. Proclaiming his images “an expression of an existential rather than sexual outlet,” he admitted to being “both actor and spectator, creator and dupe, inquisitor and squealer.” On view through June 20th, 2026, there will be a Reception on First Friday, June 5th from 6:00 – 8:00pm.
For more information, go to: https://andersonyezerski.com/
GREATER BOSTON – Chelsea and Jamaica Plain
Arthur “Cetewayo” Johnson. Photo by Lori Waselchuk. Arthur “Cetewayo” Johnson spent 51 years in prison on a wrongful conviction — 44 of those years in solitary confinement. He was arrested for murder in 1970, just after turning 18. The case against him relied on a coerced statement from a 15-year-old boy interrogated by police for 21 hours and a “confession” he was manipulated into signing that he was unable to understand because of an intellectual disability and lack of education.“
Spencer Lofts Gallery, Chelsea – As a part of the Social Documentary Network 2026 Visual Storytelling Festival, “Window Into Solitary” presents photographs by Lori Waselchuk, Brian Branch-Price, Deborah Espinosa, and Brian Frank focusing on on 17 formerly incarcerated men and women from across the U.S. who have spent extensive amounts of time in solitary. In addition to powerful photographic images, the exhibit includes written testimony by the participants about their experiences in solitary confinement and their thoughts about its widespread use across the U.S. carceral system. On view through June 30th, 2026, there will be an Opening Reception, Performance by the Boston-based R&B vocal group The OG’s, & Panel Discussion on Saturday, June 13th from 6:00-8:30 pm.
For more information, go to: https://www.socialdocumentary.net/cms/Window-Into-Solitary-Chelsea-MA
“Fens” by Clint Baclawski from the exhibition Painting with Light, courtesy of the artist and the Gallery @ J&T, Jamaica Plain.
The Gallery at J&T, Jamaica Plain – “Painting with Light: Contemporary Photography and the Legacy of Looking” features work by Clint Baclawski, Sarah Dinnick, John Ross, the Safarani sisters, and Jason Zucco, curated by Robin Hauck. The artists employ a variety of light as muse and partner in reverent photographs, video and installation. On view through June 12, 2026.
For more information: https://jamesonandthompson.com/gallery
CAMBRIDGE
“The Conquest of Tehran: Zahir al-Dowleh’s Residence, Tehran | August 20, 1909” (detail) by Azadeh Akhlaghi, courtesy of the artist and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. © Azadeh Akhlagi
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University – In her solo exhibition, From Iran: A Visual Testimony, Azadeh Akhlaghi, Iranian photographer, filmmaker and 2019 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography, stages grand scenarios that imagine and reconstruct eleven pivotal incidents that highlight the cycle of successful and failed efforts by Iranians to reclaim control of their country between 1908—when the Shah quashed the first National Assembly—and 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and Islamic rule began. In reconstructing events that were never photographed, Akhlaghi questions “the authority of images and the ways collective memory is shaped through absence as much as through evidence.” On view from May 15, 2026–March 21, 2027.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/azadeh-akhlaghi-from-iran-visual-testimony-at-harvard-peabody-museum-of-archeology-and-ethnology-cambridge-ma/
For more information, go to: https://peabody.harvard.edu/iran-visual-testimony
Courtesy of the Photographic Resource Center.
Photographic Resource Center (PRC) – New England boasts a large community of excellent photography educators and for the second year in a row the PRC presents “PHOTO/FACULTY 2026” which features a broad selection of prints from this talented cohort of artists in the VanDernoot Gallery at Lesley University. On view through June 14th, 2026.
NOTE: The PRC is hosting Artist Talks with Matthew Cronin, Julia Hechtman, Chris Maliga, Pamela Pecchio, Suzanne Révy and Betsy Schneider TOMORROW, Thursday, June 4th from 6:00 – 7:00pm, followed by a social hour from 7:00 – 8:00pm.
For more information: https://www.prcboston.org/photo-faculty-2026/
Bridge Gallery – Ready for some fun? In Cover Stories: Where Music Meets Photography, co-curators Greig Cranna and Bob Mulvey have assembled fifty of their favorite album covers, accompanied by their original images by photographers such as Pete Turner, Eric Meola, William Claxton, Roberta Bayley, Elliot Landy and others. LAST CHANCE! Now on view through Sunday, June 7th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://www.bridge.photos/shows
Danny Lyon, NOW, 1963. Offset lithograph on wove paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Marjorie Benedict Cohn Twentieth Century Print Acquisition Fund, 2025.210.
Harvard Art Museums (HAM) – Photography has always played a critical role in times of political upheaval, exerting the power to inspire action, or in other instances, to stifle dissent. In Come Let Us Build A New World Together, eleven of Danny Lyon’s photographs and three newly acquired Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee posters documenting the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s are on display in Gallery 1320 at the Harvard Art Museums through October 1, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://harvardartmuseums.org/article/collections-in-motion-what-s-new-on-view-5
THE BURBS
From the series “I Want the Sun to Shine Down on You” by Cassidy Thurber, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Installation view from “A Thousand Rectangles: On Design and the Expression of Art” by Caleb Cain Marcus, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester – The Caroline Harder Scholarship was awarded by Emily Belz and Jennifer McClure to Cassidy Thurber. Her series “I Want the Sun to Shine Down on You” addresses her memories of a difficult childhood with an aim to reflect and better understand her adulthood. Also on view, Caleb Cain Marcus of Luminosity Lab will showcases book design in “A Thousand Rectangles: On Design and the Expression of Art” to reveal how books can function as objects that elevate art and photography Opening this weekend is Vision(ary) 2026, Raising our Voices; Our Town and Wheaton Mahoney, The Forgotten in the outdoor galleries around the museum. Both shows will be on view through July 26th, 2026 while the outdoor galleries will be on view through September 28th, 2026.
A reception for Cassidy Thurber is planned for this Friday, June 5th from 5 to 7pm.
For more information and updated programming: https://griffinmuseum.org
Book by Julia Buteux, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Also on view at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester – Opening on June 12th, 2026, the Annual Handmade Photobook exhibition features sixteen artisans juried by Caleb Cain Marcus, on view in the Atelier Gallery through September 6th. The 16th Annual Photobook Exhibition, juried by Karen Davis and Griffin Museum Executive Director Crista Dix, will be on view in the Griffin Gallery through July 26th, 2026.
A reception for the book exhibitions is planned for June 26th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
For more information and updated programming: https://griffinmuseum.org
Manuel Goulart (Portuguese, 1866-1946), Studio Portraits. Dry Plate Glass Negative, 5 x 7 in. NBWM 1993.48.19.36.
New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford – The exhibition, Look Pleasant, Please, debuts a collection of archival photographic portraits reflecting historical and cultural changes in New Bedford as it transformed from a whaling town to a textiles center. Over 300 portraits from 1839 to 1900 feature examples of Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, carte-de-visites, cabinet cards, gelatin silver prints and albums. On view through September 7th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/exhibition/look-pleasant-please-early-portrait-photography-in-new-bedford/
From the exhibition RACE/HUSTLE by Zora J. Murff, courtesy of the artist and MASS MoCa, North Adams, MA.
MASS MoCA, North Adams – Zora J. Murff presents photographs, collages, video and text in RACE/HUSTLE, probing physical, psychological and institutional forms of societal violence. Curated by Terence Washington through MASS MoCA’s Curatorial Exchange Initiative, Murff examines the deleterious effects of institutional racism that have been visually normalized through history and how they manifest in every day culture. Ongoing.
For more information: https://massmoca.org/event/zora-j-murff-race-hustle/
ROAD TRIP
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
UN/Finished at the Workspace Gallery in Eastham, MA.
The Workspace Gallery, Eastham – Un/Finished brings together ongoing projects by four photographers: Sally Bousquet’s Here We Are, features self-portraits reflecting the disconnection that defines much of contemporary life; Edward Boches presents images from Seeking Glory, documenting amateur and professional fighters from the old mill towns north of Boston; Jeff Larason exhibits images from Wandering, B&W photographs exploring light, shadow, and humanity; and Dan Weingrod’s Transitional Spaces focuses on the small worlds that exist among the constructed, repaired, and refined. Curated by Bob Korn, the exhibition opens with an Artist Reception on Tuesday, June 16th, 2026 from 4:00 – 7:00pm
For more information, go to: https://bobkornimaging.com/
Great Pond Gallery at the Wellfleet Adult Community Center – Photographic pairings from their 2017 book “Slant Rhymes” place images by Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb into visual conversations “at a slant” that relate not only in composition or palette but resonate with emotions that reflect the depth of their collaborative history and the breadth of their global travels. Curated by Robert Rindler, the exhibit will be on view through June 30th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://wellfleetculturaldistrict.org/events/opening-reception-alex-webb-rebecca-norris
Rhode Island
Courtesy of the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts.
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts (RICPA), Providence – The group exhibition, Post Journalism, gathers the personal work of former Providence Journal photography staff members, including Denise Bass, Sandor Bodo, Ray Capobianco, Mick Cochran, Kris Craig, Gunnar Johnson, Bill Murphy, Gail Rodriguez, Frieda Squires & Steve Szydlowski. On view through June 12th, 2026.
Coming next to RICPA – Juried by Lou Jones, Hiding in Plain Sight asks viewers to look closely and offers reflections on what we value and choose to remember. With intriguing viewpoints, along with instances of humor and irony, Jones selected 86 images from over 800 entries, hoping to leave viewers with more questions than answers. On view from June 18th – July 10th, there will be an Opening Reception on Thursday, June 18th from 5:00 – 8:00pm.
For more information: https://www.riphotocenter.org
Connecticut
“Farmer’s Child, 1919” by August Sander, on view at the Yale University Art Gallery. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven – One of the most influential photographers, August Sander, is given a comprehensive exhibition of over 600 prints from his magnum opus People of the 20th Century. On view through June 28th, 2026.
For more information: https://artgallery.yale.edu/exhibitions/exhibition/august-sanders-people-20th-century
New Hampshire
“Cal, Elkhorn, Wisconsin” by Danny Lyon, 1966, from the portfolio The Bikeriders, On Loan from the Collection of Joseph and Susan Fiorenzo, courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art, © Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos.
Snapshot from the Peter Cohen Collection, courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art.
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester- A summer of photography is on tap! Danny Lyon’s The Bikeriders features sixteen works from Lyon’s time as a member of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club. And Together, Apart, Away: Snapshots from the Peter Cohen Collection brings together 450 evocative and humanistic moments that are revealed through these familiar and naive artifacts. On view through August 16th, 2026.
For more information: https://www.currier.org
Maine
“Home at Sea” by Jeffrey C. Becton, 2025, courtesy of the artist and the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts.
“I am not in danger” by Jan Pieter van Voorst, 2025, courtesy of the artist and the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts.
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, Portland – To celebrate their recent move and re-opening, the museum presents two shows, Of Home and Place and Looking at You. The first features images that are intimate while the second is a collection of street photographs. Both shows open with a reception on June 5th from 5 to 8pm, and will be on view through August 1st, 2026
For more information: https://www.mainemuseumofphotographicarts.org
“Leaning Tower of Pisa” 1980 by Ming Smith, courtesy of the artist and The Gund at Kenyon College.
Portland Museum of Art – Tracing the early stages of her career in the 1970’s and ’80’s, Ming Smith: Jazz Requiem-Notations in Blue explores the influence of intuitive expression found in dance and music, particularly jazz, as a throughline in Smith’s innovative artistic vision. LAST CHANCE! On view through June 7th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/magazine/ming-smith-jazz-requiem-notations-in-blue-exhibit
Vermont
From the series The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer by Amani Willett, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography,
Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro – “The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer” is a visual and spiritual exploration into the central New Hampshire woods where photographer Amani Willett spent time with his father. As Willett sought clues to the life of a hermit named Joseph Plummer who lived in these woods in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he found parallels to his own father’s journey. The resulting body of work is an intriguing trip that is emotionally resonant and psychologically charged. On view through June 28th, 2026.
For more information, go to: https://vcphoto.org/amani-willett-2026/
Feature Image: “Hanging Planter” by Suzanne Révy, 2025, from the series Villa Alma, courtesy of the artist
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