Best Photo Picks October 2026

By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy

It is officially autumn and definitely starting to feel that way. With the change in seasons comes a change in exhibitions around Boston and New England. For a glimpse of the shows and events that may spark your interest, we have listed our selections geographically. As always, please feel free to check back throughout the month as we continuously update and add to our listings.

BOSTON PROPER

“Backstage at Boston Ballet performance, Music Hall” 1974, from the series Bostonians by Constantine Manos, Boston Athenaeum Purchase; Howe Fund; December 16, 2020. (Installation view by Elin Spring)

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 through December 15th 2026.

NOTE: Exhibition curator Lauren Graves presents “Behind the Exhibition” on Tuesday, October 13th, 2027 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. For free registration: https://community.bostonathenaeum.org/s/events?event=a2KUm00000BfRnV

NOTE: “Beyond the Lens: Constantine Manos and the Students He Shaped” panel discussion led by Alison Nordstrom and featuring photographers Lisa Kessler, Rania Matar and Stella Johnson will take place on Tuesday, October 20th from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. For registration, go to: https://community.bostonathenaeum.org/s/events?event=a2KUm000009bh41

To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/constantine-manos-photography-show-wheres-boston-50-years-later-at-boston-athenaeum/

For more information, go to: https://bostonathenaeum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/50-years-later-wheres-boston/

“Untitled, 2026” by Mav Fernandez, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.

Leica Gallery Boston – To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Leica’s Boston gallery and store, the group exhibition Community Garden reunites 13 photographers who have exhibited previously: Mathieu Bitton, Ismail Ferdous, Svet Jacqueline, Luvia Lazo, Vanessa Leroy, Constantine Manos, Mary Ellen Mark, Jennifer McClure, Phil Penman, Maggie Steber, Alex Webb (photo), Rebecca Norris Webb, and Eva Woolridge. The show also showcases 4 emerging artists: Mav Fernandez, Raphael Lehnen, Artemisia Luk, and AbdoulNasser Mika. In work created between 1961 – 2026 from across the globe, the images reflect ways that both natural and built environments become places of gathering, belonging and exchange. Commemorating Boston’s bountiful photographic community and sowing the seeds for ongoing creative energy, Community Garden will be on view through October 18th, 2026. 

To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/community-garden-group-photo-show-at-leica-gallery-boston/

“Teenagers 11, 2022” by Sara Messinger courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.

Coming next to Leica Gallery Boston – “Days Go By…” brings together the work of Sara Messinger in New York and Adali Schell in Los Angeles, young emerging photographers who mine the fleeting and fraught lives of teenagers from opposite coastal cultures as they come of age. On view from October 23rd, 2026 – January 3rd, 2027, there will be an Opening Reception on Friday, October 23rd from 6:00 – 8:00pm and an Artist Talk on Saturday, October 24th from Noon – 2:00pm.

For more information, go to: https://www.instagram.com/leicagalleryboston/

Feature Image: “Misty Morn, Hong Kong New Territories, 1966” by Richard Yee, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

Robert Klein Gallery – Richard Yee’s solo exhibition, Between Two Shores – 1940s – 1980s, traces the photographer’s geographical and philosophical passage as he emigrated from China in the aftermath of it’s Civil War, to Hong Kong and finally to the United States. Yee’s resonant gelatin silver prints, exhibited chronologically, express the texture and depth of his experiences with migration, belonging and identity. On view from October 10th – December 12th, 2026, there will be an Opening Reception with the artist on Saturday, October 10th from 2:00 – 5:00pm.

For more information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/exhibitions/92-richard-yee-between-two-shores/overview/

“Fervor Series (Crowd from front, woman leaving), 2000″ by Shirin Neshat, courtesy of Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston.

Krakow Witkin Gallery – Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat’s separated groups of men and women in Fervor probe the conflicting dynamics of natural sexuality and religious militancy imposed by the Islamic state. Accompanied by a self-portrait from her Women of Allah series on the gallery’s opposite wall, Neshat’s imagery questions contradictions inherent both in Iran and the viewer’s assumptions. Also exhibiting, text- and image-based works created by conceptual photographer Lorna Simpson between 1991-2002, highlighting the inventive approaches she employed during this evolution in her work. Both on view through October 10th, 2027.

For more information, go to: https://www.krakowwitkingallery.com/exhibitions/

“Spiral Tree, Cheshire, England 1978” by Paul Caponigro, courtesy of Pucker Gallery, Boston.

Pucker Gallery – A retrospective exhibition of black and white photographs by the late master Paul Caponigro, whose legacy is aptly described in the show’s title, Revealing the Essence. On view from October 31st, 2026 – January 3rd, 2027, there will be an Opening Reception on Saturday, October 31st from 3:00 – 6:00 pm.

For more information, go to: https://www.puckergallery.com/

“Home Nest” by Mari Saxon, courtesy of the artist and Copley Society of Art, Boston.

Copley Society of Art – Photographer and recent emigrant Mari Saxon constructs a fantasy world bridging traditional Russian fairytales and a new, uncharted life in Boston with her daughters in Untold Fairytale. Her alchemy joins myth, hope and fear in inventive self-portraits in this solo exhibition and accompanying introduction of “The Book of Tales,” on view through October 24th, 2026. 

For more information, go to: https://copleysociety.org/

Panopticon Gallery – Tilted/Straight engages two distinctive interpretations of Boston’s built environment in a lively dialog between the images of Peter Vanderwarker and Fern L. Nesson. On view through November 3rd, 2026.

NOTE: There will be a free, public Reception and Artist Talk on Thursday, October 15th from 6:00 – 8:00pm.

To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/tilted-straight-photo-exhibit-with-fern-l-nesson-and-peter-vanderwarker-at-panopticon-gallery-in-boston/

For more information, go to: https://www.panopticongallery.com/tilted-straight-fern-nesson-peter-vanderwarker

SOWA – Boston’s South End Arts District

“Rhea S., Piccadilly Theater, Beirut. Lebanon, 2021” from Where Do I Go? by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

RKG x SEA-DAR: 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 recent exhibit at Leica Gallery Boston. LAST CHANCE! Located at 580 Harrison Avenue, 4th Floor, the exhibit will be on view through October 3rd, 2026.

NOTE: There will be a Closing Reception on First Friday, October 2nd from 5:30 – 7:30pm.

To read our review of this work presented at Leica Gallery Boston in the spring, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/rania-matar-where-do-i-go-photo-exhibit-at-leica-gallery-boston-and-book-from-kaph/

For more information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/exhibitions/

CAMBRIDGE & SOMERVILLE

Joseph Janney Steinmetz, “Untitled (family picnic on beach, Longboat Key, Florida),” 1958 (printed later). Gelatin silver print. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, American Professional Photographers Collection, 4.2002.4. © Estate of Joseph Janney Steinmetz.

Harvard Art Museums (HAM), Cambridge – Remember the good old days? Those post-WWII days often remembered as a time of prosperity, stability, and ease? Drawn from the Harvard Art Museums’ American Professional Photographers Collection, The Way We Never Were examines the role that professional photography played in shaping this halcyon image and brings renewed attention to a vast archive assembled in the 1970s by sociologist and curator Barbara P. Norfleet. These commissioned photographs helped create a shared visual understanding of mid-century American culture, pointing not only to what was included, but also to what was left out of the photographic record. On view through May 9th, 2027.

NOTE: Beginning October 23, 2026, a small group of photographs by Barbara Norfleet and her student Lauren Greenfield will be on display in Gallery 1100.

For more information on this exhibit and lots of associated programming, go to: https://harvardartmuseums.org/exhibitions/6622/the-way-we-never-were-the-american-professional-photographers-collection

Detail of The First Iranian Women’s Movement, Dr. Kahhal’s Office, Tehran | December 1, 1911
©Azadeh Akhlaghi, courtesy of the artist and the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. Akhlaghi appears in the red headscarf. (Installation view from projection by Elin Spring)

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University, Cambridge – 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 through 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

“Bobby Jones’ Driver” 1938, by Harold “Doc” Edgerton. © MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.

MIT Museum, Cambridge – “Freezing Time: Edgerton and the Beauty of the Machine Age” offers a retrospective of breathtaking photographs created by MIT scientist and researcher Harold ”Doc” Edgerton, who combined the stroboscope and the high-speed flash into vital tools for the analysis of high-speed movement in the 1930’s. LAST CHANCE! On view through October 8th, 2026.

For more information, go to: https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/exhibitions/freezing-time-edgerton-and-the-beauty-of-the-machine-age

Photographic Resource Center (PRC), Cambridge – “Four Mentors, Four Early-Career Photographers, One Exhibition” features the photography of alina balseiro (pictured), Jaypix Belmer, Libby O’Neill and Nick Ortoleva following their one-on-one mentorships with established artists Rashod Taylor, Jess T. Dugan. Tommy Kha and Jillian Guyette. On view through October 18th, 2026. 

For more information, go to: https://www.prcboston.org/prc-50th-anniversary-mentorship-program-exhibition-2/

“Kelly Waldner with her quarter horse mix Kia at Baker Colony on a windy and warm spring evening, April 20, 2016” by Tim Smith, courtesy of the artist and Bridge Gallery, Cambridge.

Bridge Gallery, Cambridge – Canadian photographer Tim Smith’s resplendent, affecting imagery in Communitarians Are We: the Hutterites of Canada documents the colonies and lifestyles of the Hutterites (related to religious sects like the Amish in the US). Their 400 colonies spread across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and northern tier states provide a large portion of Canada’s agricultural output. On view through October 10th, 2026.

For more information, go to: https://www.bridge.photos/contact

The Somerville Museum, Somerville – Curated by Ivan Abarca-Torres, Common Ground: Photography, Place and Community brings together a hit parade of fifteen photographers: Hannah Altman, Tynan Byrne, Henry Cataldo, Charan Devereaux, Yorgos Efthymiadis, Sharon Harper, Mary Kocol, Lucie March, Iaritza Menjivar, Dana Mueller Robinson, Greer Muldowney, Ken Richardson, Amber Tourlentes, Stephen Tourlentes, and Brian Truglio. While their imagery spans a variety of genres and approaches, they have all chosen Somerville as their home. This exhibit “explores how artists navigate and contribute to Somerville’s shifting identity, examining the relationship between place, community, and creative practice.” On view from through December 5th, 2026. 

For more information and free tickets to the reception, go to: https://www.somervillemuseum.org/commonground

THE BURBS

“J-Town and Youngsta” by Alanna Airitam from the series Black Diamonds, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“The Calm Before the Rodeo” by Charles H. Lee, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester – TLC curated by Delphine Sims, Assistant Curator in the Department of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art features Alanna Airitam, Harlan Bozeman, Charles H. Lee and Star Montana. This show is the third in a four part series of exhibitions taking a critical look at the State of Our Union during the 250th year of the United States. So far, the exhibits have covered landscapes and labor, but these artists examine the intimacies of family dynamics in communities of color.  On view through October 25th, 2026. 

To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/alanna-airitam-harlan-bozeman-star-montana-charles-h-lee-in-tlc-at-griffin-museum-of-photography-in-winchester-ma/

“TLC” curated by Delphine Sims, Assistant Curator in the Department of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, features vinyl and magnet installations including this work by Star Montana. On new at the Griffin Museum of Photography. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Revy)

From the series Out the E by Harlan Bozeman, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.

“The Persistence of Memories” by Lua Kobayashi. (Installation view by Suzanne Revy).

In the Griffin Gallery, the 2025/2026 Cummings Residency winner Lua Kobayashi presents The Persistence of Memory, an immersive installation highlighting memories and culture among Japanese Americans whom the artist visited during her residence. On view through October 25th, 2026.

For more information about these exhibits and associated programming, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/

“Steve, James and Eddie, Manchester-by-the-Sea” 2020, from the Trackside series by David Oxton, courtesy of the artist.

Winfisky Gallery at Salem State University, Salem – In recognition of the Bicentenary of the first photograph, the exhibit The Photograph/200 Years Later features images from David Oxton’s poignant, often humorous, and self-explanatory Trackside series, whose surreal lighting mirrors the strangeness of the scenes. These are accompanied by work from the art + design photo faculty Richard Lewis, Kim Mimnaugh, Jessica Martineau, and Robert Thurlow. On view from October 13th – November 6th, 2026, there will be an Artist Talk at 12:30pm, followed by an Opening Reception from 1:30 – 3:00pm on Wednesday, October 21st.

For more information, go to: https://www.salemstate.edu/calendar/photograph200-years-later-oct-13-2026

Neal Rantoul “Great Salt Lake, Utah 2015” © Neal Rantoul, all rights reserved.

Danforth Art Museum, Framingham – Three solo exhibits probe physical, psychological and personal realms: A Life in Photographs by Neal Rantoul,  Every Woman and Nobody by Suzanne Gainer and Boy Crazy by Elizabeth Clark Libert.  On view through December 20th, 2026.

For more information: https://danforth.framingham.edu/see-art/

“Amnesia” by Suzanne Gainer, from the series Every Woman and Nobody, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Art Museum.

“Battle Dance” by Elizabeth Clark Libert, from the series Boy Crazy, courtesy of the artist and the Danforth Art Museum.

“Lea, Beirut, Lebanon, 2019” by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.

Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College, Milton – Rania Matar’s seminal project, Where Do I Go?, lives on at Curry College in Milton. If you didn’t have a chance to see Matar’s exquisite portraits this spring or summer at Leica Gallery Boston and The Project Space in SoWa, here’s your chance! On view through November 11th, 2026, there will be a Reception, Celebration, and Book Signing (new Edition!) with the artist on Tuesday, October 6th at 6:30 pm.

To read our review of “Where Do I Go?”: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/rania-matar-where-do-i-go-photo-exhibit-at-leica-gallery-boston-and-book-from-kaph/

For more information, go to: https://www.curry.edu/student-life/student-center/hoon-keith-quiet-study-lounge

CENTRAL AND WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

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. On view through November 22nd, 2026. 

For more information: https://massmoca.org/event/zora-j-murff-race-

ROAD TRIP!

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence – Master photographer Neal Rantoul juried the 7th Annual Spotlight Member Exhibition, featuring a small grouping of images from each of the selected photographers: Sharon Bibeault, Jeff Buttel, John Femino, Donald Johnson, Benson Margulies and Keith Prue. The selected artist from last year’s Spotlight show, Gail Samuelson’s Curious Conversations features recent photogravures. LAST CHANCE! On view through October 9th, 2026.

For more information about these exhibits and associated programming, go to: https://www.riphotocenter.org/7th-annual-spotlight-member-exhibition/

Courtesy of the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts.

Connecticut

The William Benton Museum of Art (at UConn), Storrs – Colors in the Dark: Ellen Carey is a 39-year retrospective of the experimental photographer’s spectacular work, from early abstract Polaroid self-portraits (from 1987) to her minimalist color “pulls” (1996-2024) to her camera-less photograms (1988- present). On view through December 20th, 2026.

For more information, go to: https://benton.uconn.edu/colors-in-the-dark-ellen-carey/

“Father and Three Sons” by Julia Arstorp, courtesy of the artist and Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT.

Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport – A two-person exhibit, Ellis Island: Arriving, is an ode to the immigrants who passed through its hospital upon arriving to American shores. Julia Arstorp’s black and white collaged images and Leland Smith’s contemporary color images combine to create a textured and emotional reflection on this slice of shared history. On view through December 18th, 2026, there will be an Opening Reception with the artists TONIGHT, Wednesday, September 30th from 4:30 – 6:00pm.

For more information, go to: https://housatonicmuseum.org/what-s-on/1680-ellis-island-arriving

“Blue Room” by Leland Smith, courtesy of the artist and Housatonic Museum of Art Bridgeport, CT.

“American Brothers, 2024” by Ocean Vuong, courtesy of the artist and The Wadsworth, Hartford, CT.

The Wadsworth, Hartford – In his solo exhibit, I’m Sorry I love You, Vietnamese-American author Ocean Vuong “enacts a visual-communal autobiography,” documenting queer and immigrant life in the Connecticut River Valley over two decades. On view through January 24th, 2027.

For more information: https://www.thewadsworth.org/explore/on-view/matrix199/

Baby Dolls, Kenneth and Mamie Clark, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Gift of Kate Clark Harris in memory of her parents Kenneth and Mamie Clark, in cooperation with the Northside Center for Child Development, Washington, D.C.

Amistad Center for Art & Culture, Hartford – Wendel A. White’s Manifest: Thirteen Colonies mines the archives of the thirteen original English colonies and Washington, DC. to create a “personal reliquary of Black agency and racial oppression stored in public collections.” On view through early 2027.

To read our review of this work when exhibited at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/wendel-white-exhibit-manifest-thirteen-colonies-at-harvard-peabody-museum-of-archaeology-and-ethnology-in-cambridge-ma/

For more information about this exhibit, go to: https://amistadcenter.org/exhibition/

Maine

“Goldenrod, Amenia NY” by Eve Biddle, 2024, screen print on oval panel, museum purchase with the support of the Irving B. Ellis Fund, courtesy of the artist and the Portland Museum of Art. (Image via Petegorsky/Gipe Photo) © Eve Biddle

Portland Museum of Art, Portland – Eve Biddle: Wonderlands features the work of a Wassaic and Brooklyn-based artist who employs sculpture, installation and lens based media to probe the environment. The artist gathers materials such as rocks, kelp or sticks and translates them through photography and printmaking to consider a sense of place and memory. On view through January 27th, 2027.

For more information: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/exhibitions/wonderlands-eve-biddle/

Flower Portrait by Joyce Tenneson, courtesy of the artist.

Maine Museum of Photographic Art (MMPA), Portland – Joyce Tenneson’s intimate and sensual Flower Portraits contrast with Carol Eisenberg’s jazzy landscape abstractions in an exhibit of botanical portraits. On view from October 9th – December 5th, 2026 there will be an Opening Reception on Friday, October 9th from 5:00 – 8:00pm. 

NOTE: Artist Talks will be presented on Friday, October 23rd from 5:00 – 8:00 pm.

For more information, go to: https://www.mainemuseumofphotographicarts.org/new-page-97

“Mangroves” 2026, by Carol Eisenberg, courtesy of the artist and MMPA.