Collection Stories: Icons As Art

To help mark the occasion of Historic New England’s 115th anniversary in 2025, we are sharing some of our favorite collection stories from Historic New England magazine—which turns twenty-five this year. This month, revisit a 2020 article about the Steve Rosenthal Collection of Commissioned Work, donated to Historic New England by the architectural photographer and his wife, Kit.

For more than thirty years, architectural photographer Steve Rosenthal created  extraordinarily beautiful images of buildings with his camera. Because of his ability to produce photographs that are both artistic achievements and documentary records, countless clients—including architects, building owners, and developers—sought out Steve to capture their buildings on film and as digital images. His work illustrates hundreds of books, periodicals, and newspapers. As this sample of his portfolio shows, Steve is responsible for some of the most notable photographs of iconic New England buildings made during the last half century. 

The following pages celebrate the gift that Steve and his wife, Kit, gave to Historic New England: The Steve Rosenthal Collection of Commissioned Work. We are honored that they selected us to be the stewards of their archive. Exceptionally well organized, it includes negatives, transparencies, digital files, prints, and publications highlighting Steve’s work, and oral histories, among other items. It is an immensely valuable resource for photo historians, architects, architectural historians, and the public. 

Written by Lorna Condon, Senior Curator, Library and Archives

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of Historic New England magazine. Check the blog monthly for new posts in our Collection Stories series.