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There are, of course, many criteria by which one can judge a photograph: form, composition, color, subject matter, context, or the viewer’s emotional response. In viewing Harry Benson: Being There, currently on display at Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery, it is not Benson’s technical ability as a photographer that impresses, but his uncanny ability to be present when historic moments occur and then place himself in a position to capture these moments in a very personal way. The nearly 100 photographs on display serve as a record for some of the most important events and people, both political and cultural, of the past 50 years. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the exhibit is Benson's 100,000 word treatise on modern American history.
A native of Glasgow, Scotland, and later a United States resident, Harry Benson began his career as a wedding photographer before he moved to London where he developed his reputation working for a variety of publications. Benson first gained notoriety while accompanying The Beatles on their first trip to America in 1964. His work can usually be divided into the broad categories of photojournalism and portraits of cultural and political icons. The subject matter ranges from the grandiose to the intimate, and the intimate moments are the highlight of the exhibit. His large scale pictures, say of the ticker tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts or the oil well fires of the first Gulf War, tend to hide his individuality as a photographer because, really, anyone could have taken those shots. Likewise, his posed portraiture does not present the same level of composition and artistry as that of Herb Ritts or Annie Leibovitz. These are not the images that present his strengths and grab our attention like his candid images of individuals, famous or not, in moments of vulnerability and reflection.
Photo from Harry Benson's web site
Much of the exhibit is devoted to photographs of political and cultural icons. Included are his famous photos of The Beatles having a pillow fight after hearing the news of their first #1 hit in the U.S. and the Fab Four being “punched” by Muhammad Ali (pictured). The most striking photos are those that capture these celebrities in very personal and emotional moments, such as the portrait of Elizabeth Taylor as she was recovering from brain surgery, Pat Nixon tearing up as her husband resigns the presidency, or Ethel Kennedy attempting to block Benson from taking a picture of her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, just moments after he was shot.
Benson ranks his work chronicling the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s to be among his best and most important, and it's tough not to agree. On display are a series of moving images from the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as the Watts riots of 1965. One especially memorable image is a photo of a woman, dressed in Ku Klux Klan regalia, nursing her infant at a Klan rally. One is hard pressed to recall any other image of an infant that is so disturbing.
Other notable photographs include Benson’s wide angle picture of a U.S. aircraft carrier with its entire crew posed on the flight deck, or the 1971 picture of a man holding the flag that draped his son’s coffin after the son was killed in Vietnam. A picture of a Berlin couple making out at a bar conveys a strong sense of romance and sensuality. Then there is the picture of Bill and Hillary Clinton, taken in 1992, that froze a moment just before they are about to kiss, a moment unaware of the events that would take place six years later.
As we intimated earlier, a student of photography may not learn much by studying the technical aspects Benson’s images because they are not what make the work memorable. His best photos catch our eye because they convey a real sense of history, sympathy, and human emotion. Because of this, one walks out of the exhibit feeling enlightened, educated, and empathetic.
The National Portrait Gallery is located at 8th and F Streets, NW, above the Gallery Place-Chinatown metro station. Harry Benson: Being There runs through September 3, 2007.
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