Harry Benson 793

Scottish born photojournalist Harry Benson began his career at the Hamilton Advertiser before moving to London's Fleet Street where he worked for the Daily Sketch and the Daily Express. Harry traveled to America with the Beatles in 1964 and decided to stay. He photographed the Beatles' first and third US tours as well as their appearances in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Paris. Harry was a contract photographer for Life Magazine from 1968 until it closed, under contract for People Magazine for almost 15 years and is currently under contract to Vanity Fair and Architectural Digest. Harry has photographed 11 American presidents--from Eisenhower to Obama-- and was next to Robert Kennedy when he was shot. Harry marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights movement and has photographed a myriad of luminaries and world leaders ranging from Queen Elizabeth and Sir Winston Churchill to celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood and Brad Pitt.

When Queen Elizabeth's 2009 New Year's Honors List was announced, Harry was named a Commander of Order of the British Empire (CBE) and received his honor at Buckingham Palace on March 12th. In 2008 The Glasgow School of Art through Glasgow University awarded Harry their first honorary doctorate degree, a Doctor of Letters. Harry has won twelve awards from the National Press Photographer Association including twice receiving the 'Magazine Photographer of the Year' Award. He received the Overseas Press Club Madeline Dane Ross Award in 1988; the 2005 LUCIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in Portrait Photograph; the 2005 American Photo Magazine Award for Photography; and the 2006 Scottish National Press Photographer's Lifetime Achievement Award. Harry was made a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 2009.

Harry has had forty one-man exhibitions of his photographs in the US and Europe including A 50 year major retrospective of his work at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh (2006); the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. (2007); and Kelvingrove Museum of Art, Glasgow (2008). His work is in the permanent collection of each of these museums.

Fourteen books of his photographs have been published including RFK: A PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNAL (POWERHOUSE); HARRY BENSON'S AMERICA; HARRY BENSON: 50 YEARS IN PHOTOGRAPHS; THE TIVOLI GARDENS; and ONCE THERE WAS A WAY: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BEATLES BY HARRY BENSON (HARRY ABRAMS). HARRY BENSON: PHOTOGRAPHS which is a 60 year retrospective was published Dec. 1, 2009 (powerHouse) .

Harry lives in New York and Florida with his wife, Gigi, who works with him on his exhibitions and books. Their two daughters live and work in Los Angeles. Please Google HarryBenson.com for more information.