All photographs by Harry Benson

“These days, there’s nothing intimate,” says photojournalist Harry Benson, who for six decades has captured the private moments of presidents, princesses, and pop stars. As powerHouse Books’ new monograph Harry Benson: Photographs demonstrates, he relentlessly and patiently wormed his way into hotel and locker rooms long before high-powered publicity firms began restricting access. “I always see other photographs where the photographer has backed off, and I think they could have taken it just a little bit further,” says Benson, who customarily worked light, without assistants or lighting rigs. “You have to get them moving. A picture that is moving is moving all the time.”

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• Archive: “Art Features”
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