From Shadows to Light: A Global Journey Through the Aftermath of Trafficking | Matilde Simas 

As part of our annual summer public art exhibition, Vision(ary), The Griffin Museum is pleased to showcase the work of Matilde Simas in our satellite space gallery at Lafayette City Center. For the past seven years, Matilde Simas has documented survivors of sex trafficking, forced labor, and forced marriage across continents. From Kenya and Uganda to the Philippines and the United States, she has met more than sixty individuals whose stories are both heartbreaking and extraordinary. Each portrait reflects courage, strength, and the human capacity to reclaim life after trauma. Her series centers on expression, posture, and presence, highlighting the dignity and humanity of every survivor. The images bear witness to suffering while celebrating endurance and renewal. They are acts of empathy, advocacy, and storytelling. Visit us in Boston this summer at Lafayette City Center and discover Simas’ unique approach to renewal and resilience. Matilde Simas is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work explores resilience, dignity, and healing. She documents survivors of human trafficking, children with limb loss, and communities rebuilding after trauma, often in collaboration with international organizations. Her projects, including From Shadows to Light: A Global Journey Through the Aftermath of Trafficking, Woman Rising, and Bringing Mobility to Children with Limb Loss, have been exhibited internationally and recognized by the United Nations and UNICEF. Simas studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and continues to pursue independent artistic practice. She is based north of Boston and uses photography to foster empathy, awareness, and social change.&nbsp;

Lafayette City Center Passageway

Griffin Museum of Photography Exhibit: The Persistence of Memories

The Griffin Museum is pleased to present the work of the 2025/2026 Cummings Residency Prize winner, Lua Kobayashi. This exhibition is an immersive experience that honors the unseen histories of Japanese American communities in the greater Boston area through video projections. Lua Kobayashi is a mixed Japanese American and Uruguayan interdisciplinary artist based in Southern California. Working across photography, video, and installation, her practice explores memory, displacement, and cultural identity through personal and community histories. Her work creates immersive spaces that examine how stories are carried across generations, preserving overlooked histories while fostering remembrance, connection, and belonging.

Griffin Museum of Photography

2026 Handmade Photobook Exhibition

Handmade photography books transcend the digital realm, offering a tangible and deeply personal experience. They are more than mere collections of images; they are crafted narratives. The unique quality of a handmade photobook lies in its tactile nature, where texture, style, and craft converge. The selection of paper, the binding technique, and the attention to detail all contribute to a sensory tangible object of beauty. Each page invites the viewer to not only see, but also to feel the story within. This dedication to craftsmanship elevates the photobook from a simple album to a cherished artifact, a testament to the photographer’s vision and the enduring power of physical media. We are thrilled to have&nbsp;Caleb Cain Marcus, founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://luminositylab.com/">Luminosity Lab</a>, as our juror for this exhibition. We are pleased to present the participating artists: Amanda Sauer, Antonio Rosato, Bruno Benavides, Claire Warden, Dana Fritz, Edem Dake, Elizabeth Billings, Fruma Markowitz, Jennifer Lawrence Smith, Jenny Helbraun Abramson, Julia Buteux, Laila Nahar, Lieh Sugai, Mari Saxon, Martha Wakefield, Paige Billin-Frye.

32nd Annual Members Juried Exhibition

The Griffin Museum celebrates the craft of photography and the community it serves in its 32nd year with our&nbsp;Annual&nbsp;Members&nbsp;Juried Exhibition. Juried by&nbsp;Barbara Tannenbaum,&nbsp;Curator of Photography,&nbsp;Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Cleveland Museum of Art.&nbsp;Our Members exhibition highlights the achievements and creativity with a number of awards for selected artists. AWARDS * $1,000 Arthur Griffin Legacy Award * $500 Griffin Lens Award * Honorable Mention (5) * Director’s Prize with exhibition and catalog&nbsp; * Exhibition Prize A catalog of the 32nd Members Juried Exhibition will be produced. An online digital showcase from photographs chosen by the Griffin Museum Executive Director will be produced and available for viewing in the Museum. This years artists – Aiko Austin, Bremner Benedict, Diane Bennett, Julie Berson, Lynne Breitfeller, Lynn Buchanan, Joy Bush, Jingyin Che, Diana Chern-Nygren, Kelly Conlin, Maura Conron, Margo Cooper, Roy Crystal, Carrie Culp, Sandi Daniel, Chris Diani, Jeremiah Dine, Suzette Dushi, Steven Edson, Will Fields, Lola Flash, Tessa Gordon, Joe Greene, Barry Guthertz, Judy Haberl, Pierre Hauser, Douglas Henry, Jim Hill, Sandy Hill, Moti Hodis, Elizabeth Hopkins, Steve Jacobson, Brian Kosoff, Honey Lazar, QT Luong, Ronnie McClure, Patricia McElroy, Susan Moffat, Carolyn Monastra, Nina Nelson, Wayne Palmer, Barbara Peacock, Allison Plass, Mary Reeve, Astrid Reischwitz, Cynthia Rettig, Iliana Romanul, Ann Rosen, Maureen Ruddy-Burkhart, Sarah Salomon, Lynn Saville, Mari Saxon, Michael Scandling, Walter Silver, Aline Smithson, Naomi Soto, Sandra Stark, Michael Stepansky, Dean Terasaki, martha Volcker, Martha Wakefield, Jay Weaver, Torrance York and Eric Ziegler + Aaron Ellison

Griffin Museum of Photography Exhibit: Remember Me

The Griffin Museum is pleased to present&nbsp;Remember Me&nbsp;by Preston Gannaway, recipient of the Director’s Prize in the 2025 Juried Members Exhibition. Project Statement 	For over 20 years, I’ve been photographing a New Hampshire boy following the death of his mother when he was 4 years old. The interplay of everyday details, landscapes and portraits work together to create an intimate longitudinal essay on time, loss and mortality. 	In early 2006, I was assigned to tell the story of a young couple dealing with terminal cancer while raising children. I was there when the mother, Carolynne St. Pierre, died and continued to tell the family’s story as her husband Rich and her children, including 4 year-old EJ, struggled to cope with the loss. Through this, we all formed a deep connection. 	Though the original newspaper story was published in 2007, and I now live in California, I’ve regularly traveled back to New Hampshire to photograph. Carolynne endured difficult treatment hoping that she’d be able to imprint her children’s memories. She was afraid that EJ would be too young to remember her. In the photographs that I make now, I am witnessing what Carolynne couldn’t — her son growing up. 	Memories change over time. Both memory and time have been fundamentally linked to photography since its beginning. Most times I ask EJ, he can’t recall any memories of his mother. He also tells me he doesn’t remember a time when I haven’t been making photographs of him. 	This story, which is ostensibly about a specific boy, also reflects my own upbringing, and hopefully that of its audience. My own feelings of loss and memory color the images I make of Rich and EJ. The work leverages photography’s capacity for openness and ambiguity, and its resulting ability to deepen empathy and connect us.

Griffin Museum of Photography Exhibition: Rotan Switch

The Griffin Museum is pleased to present&nbsp;Rotan Switch, an exhibition of work by Lisa McCord, recipient of the Exhibition Prize in the 31st Juried Members Exhibition. About Rotan Switch 	“Rotan Switch&nbsp;documents life on my grandparents’ cotton farm in the Arkansas Delta community of Rotan. It takes its name from the community’s central landmark – the railroad switch where farmers loaded their cotton bales onto trains headed out of the Delta. Although it has not been used in years, it remains a potent symbol of the complex intersections of industry and agriculture, of racism and injustice. This project spans forty-five years, from 1978 to 2021, following five generations of a community.&nbsp;

Preston Gannaway | Remember Me 

The Griffin Museum is honored to present the work of Griffin member artist, Preston Gannaway in her solo exhibition, Remember Me. Gannaway was the recipient of the Directors Prize in the 31st Juried Members Exhibition , juried by Ann M. Jastrab, the Executive Director at the Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel, California. Preston Gannaway | Remember Me “For over 20 years, I’ve been photographing a New Hampshire boy following the death of his mother when he was 4 years old. The interplay of everyday details, landscapes and portraits work together to create an intimate longitudinal essay on time, loss and mortality. Preston Gannaway (b. 1977) is a documentary photographer and queer artist whose work examines the relationships between individual, community and landscape. Her first book, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, explored the changing character of a seaside neighborhood in Virginia. Her second monograph, from an on-going project now in its 21st year, was published by GOST Books in the fall of 2023. Remember Me focuses on a boy growing up in New Hampshire following the death of his mother at age 4. The interplay of everyday details, landscapes and portraits work together to create an intimate longitudinal essay on time, loss and mortality. The beginning of the series was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Her photographs and artist books are held in private and public collections including the High Museum, Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Duke University and Stanford University. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in venues around the world. She has been an artist in residence at Light Work (2018), the Visual Studies Workshop (2026) and a Pollner Distinguished Professor at the University of Montana (2019). She served on the Board of Directors of Women Photograph from 2019-2024. Born and raised in North Carolina, she lives in a cabin in Sonoma County, California.

Preston Gannaway Artist Reception & Artist Talk

Join us on Saturday August 22 to celebrate the work of Preston Gannaway. Her exhibition Remember Me is on the walls of the Griffin Gallery through September 06th, 2026. Artist Talk: 2:30-4:00pm Reception: 4:30-6:30pm This event is FREE to all Members and Non Members. In Remember Me, Preston Gannaway photographs a New Hampshire boy, EJ, for over 20 years, following the death of his mother at the age of 4. The interplay of everyday details, landscapes and portraits work together to create an intimate longitudinal essay on time, loss and mortality. Preston Gannaway (b. 1977) is a documentary photographer and queer artist whose work examines the relationships between individual, community and landscape. Her first book, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, explored the changing character of a seaside neighborhood in Virginia. Her second monograph, from an on-going project now in its 21st year, was published by GOST Books in the fall of 2023. Remember Me focuses on a boy growing up in New Hampshire following the death of his mother at age 4. The interplay of everyday details, landscapes and portraits work together to create an intimate longitudinal essay on time, loss and mortality. The beginning of the series was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Her photographs and artist books are held in private and public collections including the High Museum, Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Duke University and Stanford University. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in venues around the world. She has been an artist in residence at Light Work (2018), the Visual Studies Workshop (2026) and a Pollner Distinguished Professor at the University of Montana (2019). She served on the Board of Directors of Women Photograph from 2019-2024. Born and raised in North Carolina, she lives in a cabin in Sonoma County, California.

Wheaton Mahoney Artist Talk & Book Signing

Join us on Sunday August 16th from 2:30 to 4pm to celebrate the work of Wheaton Mahoney. Her exhibition <a href="https://griffinmuseum.org/show/mahoney_forgotten/">The Forgotten</a> is on the walls of the Griffin Gallery through September 27th, 2026. This event is FREE to all Members and Non Members, and Harvey’s book will be available for purchase for $60 plus applicable taxes. &nbsp; Wheaton will be giving a short presentation about her work and follow up with a book signing for her The Forgotten series. Books will be available during the evening, and throughout the exhibition, on the walls until September 27th. About Wheaton Mahoney — Wheaton Mahoney (b. 1970) is an American artist celebrated for her conceptual photographic series. Her still-life compositions delve into the poignant journey from youth to adulthood, creating portfolios that are rich with nuanced and bold layers. Mahoney is renowned for her adept use of color theory and layering techniques to evoke the passage of time and the preservation of life's joys. Her work has been prominently featured in publications such as Medium Format Magazine and Click Pro Magazine, where she graced the cover. Mahoney has earned accolades from Phase One camera systems, Shutterbug Magazine, and Florida International Magazine's "Top 50 Artists" several years in a row. She has also achieved Master's Accreditation from The Portrait Masters and received The Mahlon Cline Award for Excellence. Her photography has garnered recognition and awards from prestigious industry leaders such as PhotoDistrict News, RangeFinder Magazine, and Wedding &amp; Portrait Photographers International. Her work has been exhibited at art fairs, galleries, and museums across the United States. Wheaton Mahoney, a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design, is based in Western Massachusetts and Los Angeles, California.&nbsp;

Lisa McCord Artist Talk & Book Signing

Join us on Saturday August 1st from 2 to 2:30pm to celebrate the work of Lisa McCord. His exhibition Rotan Switch is on the walls of the Griffin Gallery through September 6th, 2026. This event is FREE to all Members and Non Members, and Lisa's book will be available for purchase for $65 plus applicable taxes. Lia will be giving a short presentation about his work and follow up with a book signing for her Rotan Switch series, published by<a href="https://zatarapress.com/"> </a>Kehrer Verlag. Books will be available during the evening, and throughout the exhibition, on the walls until September 6th. In Rotan Switch, Lisa McCord documents life on her grandparents’ cotton farm in the Arkansas Delta community of Rotan. It takes its name from the community’s central landmark – the railroad switch where farmers loaded their cotton bales onto trains headed out of the Delta. Although it has not been used in years, it remains a potent symbol of the complex intersections of industry and agriculture, of racism and injustice. This project spans forty-five years, from 1978 to 2021, following five generations of a community.&nbsp; Lisa McCord is a fine art and documentary photographer from the Arkansas Delta, who lives and works in Los Angeles and Arkansas. Focusing on her experiences on her family’s cotton farm, her creative practice explores concepts of storytelling, memory, and the passage of time.&nbsp; McCord received her BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and earned an MFA from California Institute of the Arts. She also attended New York University, Le Contrejour, Paris, and The Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. She taught photography at Pepperdine University.&nbsp; Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Leica Gallery LA, Slow Exposures, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Gallery 825, Fabrik Projects, and Memphis Cotton Museum. McCord’s work has also been exhibited in galleries and museums, including Annenberg Space for Photography, Building Bridges Art Exchange, Museum of Nature of Cantabria in Spain, MIA Photo Fair in Milan, and Alta Vista in Paris. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.&nbsp; Her work has been featured in numerous publications including The Guardian, Arkansas Democratic Gazette, AAP Magazine, Black &amp; White Photography (UK edition), and Float Magazine. In 2025, she was a Critical Mass Top 50 with her series, Rotan Switch. Her first monograph, Rotan Switch, was published in 2024, by Kehrer Verlag, and was a finalist in the Lucie Foundation Photo Book Awards. Book signings include Paris Photo, Photo London, and Coston Arts Center, in Arkansas.&nbsp;

32nd Annual Members Juried Exhibition | Opening Reception

Join us at the Griffin Museum for the 32nd Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition. Curated and juried by Barbara Tannenbaum, Curator of Photography, Chair of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, Cleveland Museum of Art, the exhibition will feature 68 photographs by the museum’s member photographers. The exhibition is a platform for our member community to showcase their creativity through experimental photography. Arthur Griffin Legacy Award, Griffin Award, and Honorable Mentions will be awarded to select photographs. The reception is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.

Caleb Cain Marcus| A Thousand Rectangles: On Design and the Expression of Art

The Griffin Museum is pleased to showcase the work of&nbsp;Caleb Cain Marcus, the juror of this year’s Handmade Photobook exhibition. A Thousand Rectangles: On Design and the Expression of Art&nbsp;investigates designing books as art—art defined as something that creates a space, for looking, seeing and feeling that empowers and amplifies ideas. A series of interventions explore what art is within the context of books. Using commercially published books designed by his design studio, Luminosity Lab, Cain Marcus deconstructs and dissociates books from their original form to explore their beauty, magnetism and ability to inspire experiences.&nbsp;

Cassidy Thurber | I Want the Sun to Shine Down on You

The Griffin Museum is pleased to announce Cassidy Thurber as the winner of 2025 Carolyn Harder Scholarship. We are excited to showcase Thurber’s body of work&nbsp;I Want the Sun to Shine Down on You&nbsp;in our Griffin Library from May 29 to July 26. The&nbsp;Carolyn Grande Harder Scholarship&nbsp;was created to honor the life and spirit of Carolyn G. (Grande) Harder (1943–2024), a devoted mother, teacher, art historian, and lifelong patron of the arts. With a degree in Art History from Elmira College, years spent teaching young students, and a long tenure as a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, she believed deeply in the power of art to enrich lives and expand our minds. Celebrating Carolyn’s legacy, this prize supports emerging photographers whose work reflects her spirit: a devotion to art, a love of beauty, and a desire to explore how the visual language of art can connect us and inspire creativity. This year’s submissions were juried by&nbsp;Emily Belz&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jennifer McClure.

Photography Atelier 40

The Griffin Museum is pleased to present the the portfolios of&nbsp;Photography&nbsp;Atelier 40&nbsp;artists. Photography Atelier&nbsp;is a portfolio and project-building course for emerging to advanced photographers taught by&nbsp;Emily Belz and Jennifer McClure. Participants engage in supportive critical discussions of each other’s work and leave with a better understanding of the industry and the ability to edit and sequence their own work. Instruction in the Atelier includes visual presentations based around an assignment which is designed to encourage experimentation in both subject matter and approach. Students learn the basics of how to approach industry professionals to show their work and how to prepare for a national or regional portfolio review. There is discussion of marketing materials, do-it-yourself websites, DIY book publishing and the importance of social media. Students learn the critical art of writing an artist’s statement and bio. The students here were part of our year long portfolio development program from Fall of 2025 to Spring 2026 and we are thrilled to see their work in the main gallery at Winchester.

Photosynthesis XXI

The Griffin Museum is pleased to present&nbsp;Photosynthesis XXI, a collaboration between Burlington High School and Winchester High School facilitated by the Griffin Museum of Photography. This annual 5-month program connects high school students with each other and with professional photographers, artists, and curators. Using photography as a visual language, students increase their vocabulary to communicate about themselves and the world around them. Interacting with fellow students from different programs, backgrounds, and schools, the students create a capsule of who they are in this moment, learning from each other to create a united exhibition showcasing all they have learned during the program. Thank you to our dedicated teachers. Supporting the students from Winchester High School,&nbsp;Ms. Caitlin Nitzberg, and&nbsp;Ms. Catherine Cashman&nbsp;at Burlington High School. This years extraordinary mentors were&nbsp;<a href="https://jwillis.net/">John Willis</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mhurstfrye.com/">Melinda Hurst Frye</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jefflarason.com/">Jeff Larason</a>. Each year this program is generously sponsored by the&nbsp;John &amp; Mary Murphy Foundation. Their continuing support creates opportunity for our local students to work with creative professionals, see their works on the walls of the Griffin and to be part of our summer public art project with the works featured on the grounds of the museum. We thank you for your generosity and commitment to supporting creative opportunities for our students.

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

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Community recs 💬

S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

Hot and new things to do in Boston

Hot & new

Hot & new 🔥

S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

This wknd

This weekend for you

S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

Joyraft picks: Boston’s best things to do

Roundups ⭐️

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

The newest events happening in and around Boston

The newest events on Joyraft

Just added

Just added to Joyraft

S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

Can’t-miss things to do in Boston 🚨

Can't-miss things to do 🚨

S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

Top 20

Top 20 on Joyraft

S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

The hottest events happening in Boston

Trending events on Joyraft

Trending 📈

S19: interest based

Kid-friendly events in Boston

S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

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