Spirit of a Community:
The Photography of Charles "Teenie" Harris
By Talbott Simonds (NJ) with contributions by Henry Simonds
Issue date: 5/5/03 Section: A&E
- Page 1 of 3 next >
Like many great gifts, this exhibition originates from the cultural powerhouse to our south that many of us feel a little too far away from: Pittsburgh. Coming to New England this summer, the original images shot by Teenie Harris and an accompanying documentary film on his work offer an interesting view of African-American culture in the mid-twentieth century United States. Full disclosure forces me to admit that this exhibition was co-curated, and its accompanying film edited and co-produced, by my little brother Henry Simonds. But, bias aside, the picture and the film are both wonderful.
The Photography Exhibition at the Griffin Museum
Images by Pittsburgh photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris have been compiled for display at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. The show, the town and the photography center are all well worth a visit. The exhibition space is housed in a replica of an old fieldstone grist mill and is situated along a beautiful stretch of river just fifteen minutes north of Cambridge.
Inside, eighty images by Mr. Harris have been displayed in a modern space that allows the viewer to see a full range of the historic and personal aspects of Teenie's photographs. Harris was a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier and through his newspaper work became a lasting chronicler of African-American life, both public and private, an eye into activity both local and national. He traveled the workplaces, alleys, ballparks and nightlife of Pittsburgh's Hill District from 1931 to 1971, a tumultuous period of racial struggle, community development and often joyous celebration for the African-American community in the region and throughout the United States.
Nicknamed "One Shot" by Mayor David L. Lawrence because of his habit of snapping only a single frame of any subject, Harris built a collection of images that is unprecedented in its scope and volume. Whether backstage with Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne, in the dugout with Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige, or on the streets of the Hill or Homewood-Brushton, Teenie Harris documented African-American Pittsburgh with his well-crafted photographs. Often quietly beautiful, his images were always hauntingly honest. His images are filled with smiling children, famous jazz musicians and hot dance halls that draw out the vibrant, exciting, and at times the economically harsh realities, of life in Pittsburgh during these volatile decades.
The Photography Exhibition at the Griffin Museum
Images by Pittsburgh photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris have been compiled for display at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. The show, the town and the photography center are all well worth a visit. The exhibition space is housed in a replica of an old fieldstone grist mill and is situated along a beautiful stretch of river just fifteen minutes north of Cambridge.
Inside, eighty images by Mr. Harris have been displayed in a modern space that allows the viewer to see a full range of the historic and personal aspects of Teenie's photographs. Harris was a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier and through his newspaper work became a lasting chronicler of African-American life, both public and private, an eye into activity both local and national. He traveled the workplaces, alleys, ballparks and nightlife of Pittsburgh's Hill District from 1931 to 1971, a tumultuous period of racial struggle, community development and often joyous celebration for the African-American community in the region and throughout the United States.
Nicknamed "One Shot" by Mayor David L. Lawrence because of his habit of snapping only a single frame of any subject, Harris built a collection of images that is unprecedented in its scope and volume. Whether backstage with Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne, in the dugout with Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige, or on the streets of the Hill or Homewood-Brushton, Teenie Harris documented African-American Pittsburgh with his well-crafted photographs. Often quietly beautiful, his images were always hauntingly honest. His images are filled with smiling children, famous jazz musicians and hot dance halls that draw out the vibrant, exciting, and at times the economically harsh realities, of life in Pittsburgh during these volatile decades.