Scottish born photojournalist Harry Benson CBE arrived in America with The Beatles on February 7, 1964, and in his own words – “he never looked back.” In the decades since, the award-winning photographer has demonstrated incredible range in the subjects he has captured on film including the Civil Rights marches and the Watts Riots, and he was on the scene when Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. These powerful photographs not only catapulted Benson’s career, but also incisively capture defining moments of this tumultuous period in history. Harry has covered conflicts in Kosovo, Bosnia, and the Gulf War, and is the only photographer to have photographed the last 13 U.S. presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Joe Biden. Benson has also turned his lens on everyone from Mohammad Ali to Queen Elizabeth II.
His photographs of historic events, political figures, and luminaries have been published in major magazines including LIFE, Time, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, W, Newsweek, French Vogue, Paris Match, Forbes, The New Yorker, People, Quest, The London Daily Express, and The Sunday Times Magazine. The documentary HARRY BENSON: SHOOT FIRST is available on Hulu. Sixteen books of Benson’s photographs have been published.
In 2009 Harry was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, and an honorary Doctor of Letters from Glasgow University and the Glasgow School of Art, along with an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. In 2013 Benson received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Harry received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Center of Photography in New York.
Benson’s photographs are in the permanent collections of many museums including The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC; The National Portrait Gallery, in London, England; and in Edinburgh, Scotland; The Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover MA.; The Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Harry and his wife, Gigi, are currently working on new book projects and corresponding exhibitions. Their two daughters, Wendy and Tessa, and their families live and work in California.