Lens Star

Photojournalist Harry Benson didn’t originally want to work with the Beatles. 

 When the London Daily Express called him late one night in 1964 telling him he was assigned to fly out of the country with the rock group the next morning, Benson said no. He wanted to go to Africa and cover hard news. But when he heard them play at a local joint in Paris the next day, he had a change of heart.

“I leave the hall to go back to my car to get another piece of equipment, and I’m coming back and the Beatles are starting,” says Benson. “I hear ‘Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you.’ I think, God, I’m on the right story. This is the story. They were terrific. You could feel Beatlemania breaking out.”

Benson traveled with the Beatles on and off for two years, capturing intimate, behind-the-scenes photographs of the group during their prime in America. His new book, The Beatles: On the Road 1964-1966, showcases these photos and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first U.S. tour.

The Contessa Gallery on Cedar Road will be hosting an exhibition of Benson’s work, Lens of a Legend: Harry Benson Photographs May 31-July 7. While there will be a heavy emphasis on the Beatles, photographs of Frank Sinatra, Andy Warhol and Jack Nicholson will also be hung. Benson will be at the gallery opening Friday and Saturday to talk about his work from 6-9 p.m. He gave us a preview of some of his favorites.

Right after the group was told they were the No. 1 band in America, and they were going to New York City to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show

“Paul was drinking with his back turned to the door, and John slips out and comes back in with a pillow and hits him in the back of the head with it," Benson says. "And that was the pillow fight. It went on for about 25 minutes. I’ve never seen anything like that from a rock group.”

 Arrival in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964

“It was only just a few months after Jack Kennedy’s death, and I think the Beatles helped to give America a big shot in the arm. They cheered it up a lot. Because you could see Beatlemania everywhere, hear people talking about it, newspaper people came from all over America.”

Meeting Muhammad Ali in Miami Beach in 1964

“He completely dwarfed them. He told them to do this. He completely ran it; he ran the show. And afterwards John said, ‘He made us look like bloody fools, and it was your fault Benson,’ and the Beatles were pretty upset. They didn’t talk to me on the way back, because they were always the funny ones and they had control of things.”

Berlin Kiss 1996

“Intensity was going on in front of me in a bar and I said hell, 'I’m going to photograph this couple.' I just slipped under the bar and took it from the bar side. Afterwards, someone told them I had photographed them, and we talked. They were a nice couple.”

At the Harrow School in England, 1964

“I would have liked to photograph [Winston] Churchill during the war, when he was at his best. ... When I photographed Churchill, it was about two years before he died, and what makes the picture is he’s leaving his old school. A bunch of students are cheering him, so it gives the picture power because of the energy of the youth and the old man who had obviously done so much.” 

Jack Nicholson is included in the gallery because of the Indians hat, but Benson says there’s also an odd mystery with this photograph. “Look at it very closely," he teases. "It’s very interesting.”

All Photos Copyright Harry Benson. For more information, visit contessagallery.com.

Cleveland Museum of Art and Bidwell Foundation Transform Historic Space

In the words of Transformer Station co-founder Laura Ruth Bidwell, "It's about time photo had its own space."

Nestled on the corner of Church Street and West 29th, this minimalist space is bringing a new vibe to the art scene in Ohio City.

Open to the public from noon to 9 pm today, with extended hours through the weekend, the Transformer Station invites visitors to explore the world of photography, as well as a piece of Cleveland history, free of charge. Where Cleveland Railway Company once powered streetcars running on Detroit Avenue, only the crane that once lifted the company's transformer into and out of the space remains.

Fittingly named, the Crane Gallery now holds the works of Vaughn Wascovich for its first exhibition, Bridging Cleveland. Using a handmade pinhole camera, Wascovich photographed the various bridges over the Cuyahoga then manipulated them with a mix of chemicals and creativity.

"They’re a love song to the Cuyahoga River," says co-founder, and Laura's husband, Fred Bidwell.

 

In the main gallery of the museum hang pieces from their collection, which Fred calls a personal overview of what's happening in photo-based art.

"Many of the works in here were delivered straight into storage," he says of the Light of Day exhibition. "So now they're seeing the light of day."

Viewers will find themselves amidst the works of established artists such as Hiroshi Yugimoto and Adam Fuss as well as young and upcoming artists. The Transformer Station, owned and operated by the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation,  established in 2011 to support artists and arts institutions, will create half of the gallery schedule. The Cleveland Museum of Art, a partner in programming the space, will develop the rest.

The visual experience is pure, with natural light streaming in from horizontal rectangular windows near the building's high ceilings and no wall labels or other adornments to distract. Even the benches, made from the re-purposed pecan floor of an old Chrysler plant, keep it simple.

"The building has to get out of the way of the art,” says Laura. “Simplicity is good.”

Food As Art

The husband and I went down to the Akron Art Museum on Saturday to see an exhibition of photographs by Edward Weston. It’s a retrospective of this 20th century artist’s entire body of work. The black and white images are stunning and it was interesting to see how his vision evolved, both in terms of how he looked at a single subject and his seeing over time. There are nudes and landscapes, portraits of people and places.

His sensuous rendering of a pepper has become iconic but I was especially taken with his photos of edible things that were less familiar to me- eggs, a mushroom, cabbage, all receptacles for light and shadow. Days later I can still see the long, leggy bunch of radishes he paid homage to, as lovely and intimate an expression as anything he ever did of a woman. Of course, such work speaks mostly to his incredible talent but it is also a reminder for me of the beauty lurking in ordinary moments and simple insignificant things. Suddenly a handful of strawberries spread out on the wooden cutting board are more than just something to slice onto a bowl of cereal. I stop, stare, consider their curves and colors, their relationships to one another and to the little bit of late morning sun that makes its way through the window and into my kitchen. If I were a photographer, I’d take a picture. Instead I just take in the scene and give a mental nod of thanks to Weston for awakening my perceptions.

Only four more days to see this terrific show- it closes Sunday. Well worth the trip and the time.

Local Photographer Wins National Recognition

You probably have seen the work of local photographer Chris Walters on the pages of Cleveland Magazine. He recently photographed legendary TV personality Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski for our December issue and Superman enthusiast Brad Ricca in this month's issue. Walters' work is honored this month on the pages of American Photo. He was among the select few to win an honorable mention in the personal work category of the 2008 Images of the Year Competition for the above photo. If you are trying to find his name in American Photo, you won't find it. The magazine mislabeled his photo with photographer Chris Waters. Oops. To see more of Walters' work, visit www.chriswaltersphoto.com.