Exhibition showcases American history in pictures
AN exhibition of images by renowned photographer Harry Benson will go on display at the Scottish Parliament.
Harry Benson: Seeing America will include photographs of significant moments in America’s social, political and cultural history over the last 50 years.
Glasgow-born Benson arrived in America with the Beatles and went on to photograph every US president since Dwight D Eisenhower.
He was present during Robert Kennedy’s assassination and tear gassed during the James Meredith March with Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
He started by covering America for the Daily Express and by 1968 he was working for Life magazine.
The exhibition will include photos of president Ronald Regan and his wife dancing, which featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, the 1960s civil rights movement, Watergate journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and Richard Nixon’s resignation speech as well as The Beatles with Muhammad Ali.
It will also feature American entertainers including Frank Sinatra, James Brown, Jack Nicholson, Dolly Parton, Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt.
The free exhibition, running from August 12 until December 3, will be the first display of his work in Scotland since 2008.
Benson said: “To have my retrospective, my American journey, at Parliament is an incredible privilege.
“My wife Gigi and my daughters Wendy and Tessa join me in thanking the Scottish Parliament for this truly remarkable honour.”