Teenie Harris ~ an American original / a highly recommended book

all images © Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Teenie Harris • click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen
• click to embiggen

all images © Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

One of the most fortuitous unintended consequences of my time spent living in Pittsburgh, ranking right up there with meeting and marrying the wife, was my "discovery" of the work of Teenie Harris. That encounter took place on the streets of Pittsburgh - specifically in the Strip District (aka: public market) - where, during good weather, a street vendor set up a display of Teenie Harris pictures for sale.

For me, it was love at first sight and I acquired 3 11×14(ish) prints. I don't remember the price but I believe it was in the $20.00US/per print ballpark. Little did I know that Teenie would come to be considered as the most important black picture maker chronicling the lives of black Americans in 20th century America. In hindsight, I should have acquired many more prints but I was hesitant at the time because rumor had it that the street vendor had engaged in some sort of shady deal with Teenie (or possibly his wife) by which he had possession of Teenie's negatives.

That rumor most likely stemmed from the fact that in 1998, the year in which he died, Teenie was in the process of suing, for noncompliance, a person with whom he had signed (in 1986) a management agreement contract. As it turns out, the suit was eventually settled in Teenie's favor and all of the negatives (80,000+) were returned to his estate. In 2001, the negatives were purchased by the Carnegie Museum of Art (in Pittsburgh).

All of the suing / purchase activity came as news to me when I recently came across an advert for Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story, an exhibit of 987 Harris pictures currently on display at the CMOA (through April 7, 2012 - and, yes, I will be going to Pittsburgh to see the exhibit). Needless to state, I am extremely pleased to read that the collection, a true photography treasure, is in good hands and is being properly conserved, scanned, and and cataloged.

And, speaking of treasure, I have purchased, and am eagerly awaiting the arrival thereof, the exhibit catalog/book. IMO, the book is an absolute must-have for anyone with an interest in picture making. And again IMO, much of Teenie's work stands on an equal footing with that of Walker Evans, albeit somewhat (but not entirely) different in intent and scope.

All of that said, I will have more to write on the pictures themselves.

FYI, the bottom-right picture of the Tyler family was published - June 13, 1959 - in the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper (the black newspaper by which Teenie Harris was employed from c.1941 until his retirement c.1976, after which he worked for the newspaper on a freelance basis until c.1983). The Tyler family picture was accompanied by the following cutline (caption):

Please Help Them - Mr. and Mrs. Robert Tyler and their six children, who are being forced to move from a tinder-box house at 2817 Berthoud St., are in extreme mental anguish this week because they have no place to move. Can you help them?

Comments

[John Linn]

Thanks for sharing the story for the last photo. I am sure there is a story for each of these images and it would be interesting to hear them all. Some really interesting situations and good looking people.

Also almost every shot was apparently flash, and those were the old single-use flash bulbs that are the size of a 60 watt light bulb. He must have needed a big camera bag just for those flash bulbs!