Ships starting October 19, 2026
Tracking the emergence of widespread color photography to the dawn of the digital age, Philadelphia in Color 1950-1990 features hundreds of street photographs, portraits, and family snapshots to document the evolution of architecture, fashion, and expression in American urban life.
“To see our beloved city with all its diverse and rich images I am sure will conjure the scent of cheesesteaks, the ‘Sound of Philadelphia,’ hot summer breezes and so many faces of the people who are the heart of this keystone state.”
— Colman Domingo
Hidden City gathered the images from the collections of famous photographers and architects, including Stephen Shore, Denise Scott Brown, Laurie Olin, and Harvey Finkle, as well as dozens of amateurs, many sourced from archives and family collections. Taken together, they express the passion, pride, resilience, endurance, and flamboyance of a city and its people.
Philadelphia in Color fills a significant void in the city’s visual history, while reframing the conversation about what kind of place Philadelphia was and might be. This is a civic portrait of Philadelphia as deep and dynamic as the city itself.
“This book unfolds like a beating heart, each picture another pulse of life.”
— Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art
“Photographs preserve more than places, they hold stories, relationships, aspirations, and memories passed from one generation to the next. Philadelphia in Color: 1950-1990 brings together hundreds of images from family albums, personal archives, institutional collections, and community contributors to reveal the everyday lives of Philadelphians across four transformative decades. Assembled from many perspectives, these photographs present Philadelphia as both subject and storyteller, capturing moments of celebration, activism, labor, leisure, and belonging. Together, they create a collective portrait of a city shaped by resilience, creativity, and change, challenging familiar narratives of urban decline while reminding us of photography’s power to preserve memory and connect generations.”
— Deborah Willis, author of Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present
425 pages
367 color photos
9 x 11
Paperback
EAN: 9781439928547
The first-ever color photographic history of Philadelphia
Available October 2026
Ships starting October 19, 2026
Tracking the emergence of widespread color photography to the dawn of the digital age, Philadelphia in Color 1950-1990 features hundreds of street photographs, portraits, and family snapshots to document the evolution of architecture, fashion, and expression in American urban life.
“To see our beloved city with all its diverse and rich images I am sure will conjure the scent of cheesesteaks, the ‘Sound of Philadelphia,’ hot summer breezes and so many faces of the people who are the heart of this keystone state.”
— Colman Domingo
Hidden City gathered the images from the collections of famous photographers and architects, including Stephen Shore, Denise Scott Brown, Laurie Olin, and Harvey Finkle, as well as dozens of amateurs, many sourced from archives and family collections. Taken together, they express the passion, pride, resilience, endurance, and flamboyance of a city and its people.
Philadelphia in Color fills a significant void in the city’s visual history, while reframing the conversation about what kind of place Philadelphia was and might be. This is a civic portrait of Philadelphia as deep and dynamic as the city itself.
“This book unfolds like a beating heart, each picture another pulse of life.”
— Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art
“Photographs preserve more than places, they hold stories, relationships, aspirations, and memories passed from one generation to the next. Philadelphia in Color: 1950-1990 brings together hundreds of images from family albums, personal archives, institutional collections, and community contributors to reveal the everyday lives of Philadelphians across four transformative decades. Assembled from many perspectives, these photographs present Philadelphia as both subject and storyteller, capturing moments of celebration, activism, labor, leisure, and belonging. Together, they create a collective portrait of a city shaped by resilience, creativity, and change, challenging familiar narratives of urban decline while reminding us of photography’s power to preserve memory and connect generations.”
— Deborah Willis, author of Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present
425 pages
367 color photos
9 x 11
Paperback
EAN: 9781439928547
