Harvard Art Museums opens postwar photography exhibition The Way We Never Were

artdaily.com

This August, the Harvard Art Museum opened The Way We Never Were: The American Professional Photographers Collection, an examination of idealized visions of life in the United States from the postwar period through the Civil Rights era. Selected from the work of 20 professional photographers and studios, these images offer insight into dominant ideals of prosperity, domesticity, and conformity; amid still urgent questions about who defines America, they remain highly relevant today.

The exhibition, which marks 50 years since the formation of the American Professional Photographers Collection at Harvard, is on view August 29, 2026, through May 9, 2027, in the University Research Gallery on Level 3 at the Harvard Art Museums. An accompanying digital resource and a broad range of in-person public programming will delve deeper into the American Professional Photographers Collection and the rich history of teaching photography at Harvard University.

The Way We Never Were was curated by Audrey Sands, Richard L. Menschel Associate Curator of Photography, and Madison Brown, John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Curatorial Fellow in Photography (2024–26), with Bridget Hinz, Senior Curatorial Assistant for Special Exhibitions and Publications, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.

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