Harry Benson DC
Iconic images from the celebrity photographer
Given today’s date, I was thinking about writing a post about January 6, 2021 and its aftermath. But after seeing the fencing up around the Capitol complex last week, I realized I just didn’t have the heart for it so this is what you get instead.
Ted Leonsis, owner of Washington’s pro basketball and hockey teams, gets a pass mostly because he’s not as terrible as Dan Snyder, the universally detested former owner of the Washington Redskins, now known as the Commanders. Last year, Leonsis tried to pit DC against northern Virginia by threatening to move his teams out of the city, apparently presuming that the suburbs would salivate at the chance to have him. But the Virginia General Assembly, particularly State Sen. Louise Lucas, wasn’t having it. DC Mayor Bowser threatened to sue Leonsis for breaching a legal agreement to stay in town but in the end, she kowtowed to the billionaire, championing a $515 million deal to upgrade the Capitol One Arena and make other improvements in the surrounding neighborhood. So the good news is that the Wizards and Caps are staying, the bad news being that tax dollars are being spent to keep Mr. Megabucks happy at the expense of DC residents who have much more critical needs.
So what does this have to do with Harry Benson, the Scottish photographer famous for his shots of presidents, royalty, and other celebrities that landed on the cover of People, Life, and Vanity Fair? Simply that Leonsis’s company, Monumental Sports, has opened a gallery at 707 7th Street NW that is featuring 150 of Benson’s photos from now through the spring. Harry Benson: Washington DC is somewhat of a misnomer because while there are plenty of pictures taken here, it also includes photos from sites across the globe. The exhibit features presidents and their families from Eisenhower to the present and memorable pictures from the Beatles’ inaugural trip to the U.S. in 1964, as well as snaps of sports icons and others. He captured Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) mugging with the Beatles, the King children looking somber on the morning of their father’s funeral, a dyspeptic Duke of Windsor in a plaid suit, and Ethel Kennedy in the chaotic moments just after her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. A photo of a young Queen Elizabeth visiting a mine in Scotland is juxtaposed with one of Princess Diana kneeling down to accept flowers from a small child.
You can spend an enjoyable hour here, particularly since the exhibit is free. Benson seems to have written all the text for the explanatory labels, without the aid of a second set of eyes as the typos abound (mostly amusingly that Hilary Clinton was a producer of the Broadway show “Snuffs” [sic]). He is uncritical of his subjects and their places in the sweep of history, mostly commenting on whether they were patient or welcoming during the photo sessions.
The exhibit will remain open Wednesday through Sunday for the duration of the NHL and NBA seasons (May-ish). Hours are from 10 am to 5 pm except on home game days when the lights stay on until 7 pm.