WEST HOLLYWOOD.-The Pacific Design Center presents the exhibit Harry Benson: A Retrospective of Iconic Photography through April 25th.
Scottish-born photojournalist Harry Benson arrived in the U.S. from his native Scotland with The Beatles in 1964 — and took the first-ever U.S. photos of the Fab Four.
Architectural Digest is proud to honor Mr. Benson’s illustrative career by sponsoring the first-ever Los Angeles exhibit of his photography at the Pacific Design Center. Benson, a regular contributor to the magazine, has captured most of the highlights — and lowlights of this country’s watershed events — He was in the Los Angeles hotel ballroom when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, he stood close to Richard Nixon when the president announced his resignation, he was on the Meredith march with Martin Luther King, he captured a Madonna-esque portrait of recently-slain Benazir Bhutto cradling her son in her arms — and he has photographed every U.S. President from Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
Not many “Bold Face Named” icons have escaped his lens: Benson has shot portraits of such diverse luminaries as: Princess Di, James Brown, Al Pacino, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and then-wife Mia Farrow, Bette Midler, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Truman Capote, Alfred Hitchcock, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, to name just a few.
Harry Benson, born in Glasgow, Scotland, is an internationally renowned photographer. His pictures have appeared in many publications including Life, Vanity Fair, People and The New Yorker. With a body of work covering more than fifty years, and now in his seventies, Benson continues to work from his adopted home of New York, where he lives with his wife Gigi. He has two grown-up daughters.
Some of Benson’s photos have achieved iconic status. His first international break came when assigned to travel with The Beatles to America in 1964, and perhaps his most recognisable image shows the band erupting in a gleeful pillow fight on hearing that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had reached number one.
Other celebrities Benson has photographed include Michael Jackson, who allowed him access to his bedroom, and Elizabeth Taylor, who Benson photographed before and after her brain surgery. He has also taken photos of political figures, including every US president since Dwight D. Eisenhower, and covered war zones.
Benson has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, taken over a hundred cover shots for People, published several books and won many awards. He was the subject of an award winning documentary directed by Ken MacGregor and written by William McIlvanney. Most recently he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Press Photography Awards on April 25th, 2006.
