Obituary: Constantine Manos

January 6, 2025

The great Magnum photographer passed away on January 3, 2025. He was 90 years old.
“Going out into the city with a small camera and making hundreds of pictures of people doing hundreds of things is a dizzying odyssey.” The association with Homer's story comes as no surprise when considering the American photographer with Greek roots. Working with Leica cameras, Constantine “Costa” Manos always placed people at the centre of his photographs – whether in his black and white pictures or in the colour work he produced primarily during the second half of his life. His empathetic, humanistic eye is evident in every one of his images. As a photojournalist, an author of free topics, and a lecturer, Manos has influenced generations of photographers. His work has been exhibited and honoured many times, including with the Leica Medal of Excellence in 2003. 

Born in 1934 in Columbia, South Carolina, Manos was the son of Greek immigrants who supported their child’s artistic interests from an early age. He discovered photography as a teenager, and was so inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson, that he acquired equipment as similar as possible to the master. He purchased his first Leica in 1952, and many other models were to follow. A lover of classical music, Manos became the official photographer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of 19 (the photo book Portrait of a Symphony was published in 1961). After graduating with a BA in English Literature from the University of South Carolina in 1955 and completing his military service – during which he spent two years in Germany as a staff photographer for the Stars & Stripes newspaper –, he moved to New York to work as a professional photographer for magazines such as Esquire, Life and Look. A scholarship in 1961, allowed him to spend three years in Greece (his book A Greek Portfolio was published in 1972), after which he lived in Boston. He joined Magnum in 1963, and two years later became a full member of the photo agency. After decades of black and white photography, Manos sought change in the eighties and found a new challenge in colour: “I switched to colour, shooting with my Leica M6”.  That led him to a new way of seeing, and sparked a long-time passion for exploring the world in colour.” (American Color was published in 1995, American Color II in 2010).  

An interest in human rights, freedom and the joy of festive moments remained constants in his work. The first gay Magnum photographer, Manos closely documented the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993, as well as the 25th Anniversary of Stonewall in 1994. On May 17, 2004, Manos photographed the very first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. in the small Massachusetts town of Provincetown. As of 2008, the city also became the home of Manos and his husband, Michael Prodanou, a Greek-Canadian architect and painter whom he had met in Rome in 1963. Already affected by the consequences of Alzheimer's, in recent years Manos stopped taking photographs and giving workshops, but continued to devote himself to his archive. 

Constantine Manos passed away in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on January 3, 2025. 

“His ability to capture the poetry of everyday life with unmatched sensitivity and a keen eye for light and colour has left an indelible mark on the history of photography,” current Magnum President Cristina de Middel shares in the agency’s obituary: “Costa’s unwavering dedication to photography and to Magnum’s mission will remain an enduring example for us all. My heartfelt condolences go out to his friends and family. His legacy will live on in his images and in the inspiration he has provided to so many.”
Ulrich Rüter

LFI 7.2024+-

Manos was featured in the Leica Classic segment of LFI issue 7.2024. More

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Obituary: Constantine Manos