The USS Constitution Museum announces the opening of Exploring Old Ironsides, a new photography exhibition featuring the work of longtime Museum photographer Greg M. Cooper. Presented with generous support from Yawkey Foundation, the exhibition invites the public to encounter USS Constitution through dramatic light, unexpected angles, and close details that reveal America’s Ship of State in fresh and compelling ways.
Drawn from decades of photographing the Ship, Exploring Old Ironsides offers more than a visual experience. It creates a meaningful point of connection between the public and a national icon whose story continues to speak to service, resilience, craftsmanship, and the ideals that shape our shared civic life. Through Cooper’s images, visitors are invited not simply to admire the Ship, but to look more closely and reflect on why USS Constitution still matters today.
The exhibition is made possible by Yawkey Foundation, whose generous support helps connect people with the story and values of USS Constitution. Their partnership enables an exhibition that is both visually compelling and closely aligned with the Museum’s role as a place where history, citizenship, and community come together.
“Exploring Old Ironsides shows how a fresh artistic perspective can deepen public connection to a familiar icon,” said Jeff Draeger, President & CEO of the USS Constitution Museum. “Greg’s photographs reveal the Ship not only as a landmark of American history, but as a powerful expression of endurance, service, and shared values. We are grateful to Yawkey Foundation for making possible an exhibition that helps more people see themselves in that story.”
“Yawkey Foundation has supported the USS Constitution Museum's access programs for more than thirty years because we believe this history belongs to all of us. Greg Cooper's photographs make that case viscerally – ‘Old Ironsides’ is not a relic, but a living symbol of service, resilience, and shared civic identity,” said Alicia Verity, CEO of the Yawkey Foundation. “We are proud to support an exhibition that helps people see the Ship in a new way and deepen their connection to a story that continues to shape our nation.”
Exploring Old Ironsides also marks an important new chapter for the Museum’s Special Exhibition Gallery, a re-envisioned space shaped by the character of the historic building itself. With natural light, exposed structure, and a renewed sense of openness, the gallery creates a setting that is both contemporary and rooted in the architecture of the original Navy Yard pump house. The result is a dynamic platform for special exhibitions and storytelling that brings visitors into closer contact with the people, stories, and ideals embodied by USS Constitution.
For more than two decades, Cooper has photographed USS Constitution with an eye for both its iconic presence and its lesser-seen character. A longtime collaborator with the USS Constitution Museum, he is a Boston-based commercial and editorial photographer whose background spans photojournalism, sports, travel, and documentary photography. His images are at once visually striking and deeply observant. In Exploring Old Ironsides, his work reveals the Ship as a living symbol of history, service, and American identity.