REVIEW: Brownie Harris, Photography Retrospective: 1970-2020

REVIEW: Brownie Harris, Photography Retrospective: 1970-2020

Reviewed by: Steven Barth

The photograph is black and white. The giant ape lies dead at the foot of the World Trade Center towers as the mob presses in. The twin towers light up the night. They angle in from each side. Centered perfectly in between is a shaft of night sky and the once mighty King Kong.

The shot could not have been more perfect if the photographer had set it up in a studio, but that’s not how it went down. I know because I was standing next to Brownie Harris when he took it.

We were both there that night. But when Brownie showed me this photo back in 1976, I asked myself, “Where was I when this happened?” I knew my friend was a talented photographer. Anybody could see that. However, that was the eureka moment when I understood how his gift transformed photography into art. In “Brownie Harris, Photography Retrospective: 1970-2020”, we see that gift unfold like the wings of a new angel over a professional lifetime.

One interesting aspect of these photographs is that because most celebrities were photographed while working on a film or television production, typically Brownie had no control over the model, setting, or action. That’s not something you must know to appreciate the photo of the Twyla Tharp Dance Company suspended midair. Now that you do know, you’ll never stop marveling. Don’t let me forget Muhammed Ali spontaneously pretending to punch Dick Cavett as he speaks. How could Brownie know that punch was coming?

Two photos documenting civil unrest taken 50 years apart serve as the author’s coda for this collection. I can’t disagree with my old friend, so I’ll augment it. This book was conceived as a well-deserved tribute to the photography of Brownie Harris. It achieves that well, yet along the way it accomplished something much bigger too. The people, places, and human achievements captured so memorably in this book serve as a carefully curated celebration of the best America has ever seen. It is truly a cultural treasure.