Constantine Manos

Constantine "Costa" Manos, born 1934 in South Carolina to Greek immigrant parents, is an American photographer known for his images of Boston and Greece. His work has been published in Esquire, Life, and Look. He is a member of Magnum Photos.

Manos first began taking photographs while in high school when he joined his school's camera club. Within a few years he was working professionally as a photographer. At 19, Manos was hired as the official photographer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. His photographs of the orchestra culminated in 1961 with his first published work, Portrait of a Symphony. Manos graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1955, majoring in English Literature. He served in the military and then moved to New York City, working for magazines. From 1961-1964, Manos lived in Greece, photographing the people and landscape. This work resulted in A Greek Portfolio, published in 1972 and which won awards at Arles and the Leipzig book fair. In 1963, Manos joined Magnum Photos and became a full member in 1965.

After his time in Greece, Manos lived in Boston. In 1974, Manos was hired by the city to create the photographs for the "Where's Boston?" exhibition, a large production in honor of Boston's 200th anniversary. The photos from that exhibit were published in the book Bostonians: Photographs from Where's Boston? He also worked on projects for Time-Life Books.

In 1995, American Color was published, containing Manos' recent photographs of American people. A Greek Portfolio was reissued in 1999, followed by a major exhibition of his work at the Benaki Museum of Athens. In 2003, Manos was awarded the Leica Medal of Excellence for his American Color photographs.

Manos continues to photograph with Leica cameras, and is currently working on material for a second American Color collection.

• 2003, Leica Medal of Excellence
• 1972, Arles Award
• 1966, New York Art Directors' Award

• Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
• George Eastman House, Rochester, USA
• High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA
• Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
• Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
• Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, USA
• Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, USA
• Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
• Magnum Photos Collections, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, USA