Constantine Manos
"The flow of people in a setting, their changing
relationships to each other and their environment, and their constantly
changing expressions and movements - all combine to create dynamic situations
that provide the photographer with limitless choices of when to push the
button. By choosing a precise intersection between subject and time, he may
transform the ordinary into the extraordinary and the real into the
surreal"
- Constantine Manos
Constantine Manos was born
in 1934 in Columbia, South Carolina to Greek immigrant parents. He started his photographic career at the age
of 13 at his school’s camera club. After
only a few years he began working as a professional photographer. He went on to attend the University of South
Carolina, from which he graduated in 1955 with a B.A. in English Literature. At
the age of nineteen, he was hired as the official photographer of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra at its summer festival at Tanglewood.
In 1961 he moved to Greece
where he lived until 1963. Many of the
photographs he made during that time were published in a book called “A Greek
Portfolio”, first published in 1972. The book won awards at Arles and at the
Leipzig Book Fair, and exhibitions of the work took place at the Bibllothéque
Nationale in Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Costa Manos joined Magnum
Photos in 1963, where he became a full Member in 1965. He is known for his
wide-ranging subjects – from desegregation in the American South to life in
Greece and his later work throughout America which he shot in color. One thing has
remained constant throughout his career; it’s been Costa and his Leica
rangefinder.
After he returned from
Greece, Manos settled in Boston and completed many assignments for Time-Life
books, including their book on Athens.
I had the pleasure of
meeting Costa Manos several years ago.
Not only is he a great photographer, he also proved to be a very
interesting individual, very easy to talk to.
Whenever I think of Manos, one piece of his work that continues to come
to my mind is “Bostonians." 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?” The
show consisted of 4 x 6 foot (yes foot) enlargements, all shot on Kodak Tri-X,
developed in a modified Agfa Rodinal developer.
It is amazing how well his Leica negatives held up, both in terms of
sharpness as well as tonal range, even with those size enlargements.
Manos’s photographs are in
the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Bibliothéque Nationale,
Paris; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston;
and the Benaki Museum, Athens. In 2003, Manos was awarded the Leica Medal of
Excellence for his pictures from American Color.
Manos’ first color photographs
appeared in his book “American Color” which was published in 1995. This was followed by “American
Color 2” in 2010. In 1999 a new edition
of “A Greek Portfolio” was published, accompanied by an exhibition at the
Benaki Museum in Athens. AT the 50th
anniversary of the creation of the pictures for that book, an exhibition,
including eighty unpublished pictures, was held at the Benaki.
Manos is currently working
on a major retrospective book and exhibition that will include unpublished
photographs dating from the start of his career. He continues to photograph with Leica cameras.
To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.
All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.
___________________________________________________________________________
To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.
All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.
___________________________________________________________________________
Buy vintage Leica cameras from
America's premier Leica specialist
Buy vintage Leica cameras from
America's premier Leica specialist
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
So much for the Leica haters who claim that Leicas are only for collectors and that they are not used by any professional photographers.
ReplyDelete