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Tonight! 6-8pm at HotHouse: Syd Harris Photo Exhibit Opening Reception

EYEWITNESS TO STRUGGLE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AT HOTHOUSE
Eyewitness: Documents of Struggle
Syd Harris, Jerry Harris and Marc Harris
OPENING RECEPTION: Nov 8, Friday, 6 - 8 pm
HotHouse, 31 East Balbo, Chicago
EYEWITNESS TO STRUGGLE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AT HOTHOUSE

Eyewitness: Documents of Struggle
Syd Harris, Jerry Harris and Marc Harris

OPENING RECEPTION: November 8, Friday, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

HotHouse, 31 East Balbo, Chicago

The exhibit will feature rarely seen works of master documentary photographer Syd Harris. Included in this first public retrospective are vivid and powerful images of the working people of Chicago and dramatic insightful portraits of celebrated figures and cultural icons of the day.

Harris' photographs cover a span of thirty years (1950s - 1980s) and capture the turbulent, provocative eras that changed the face of America. His remarkable eye goes to the heart of the matter, revealing the humanity of his subjects whether an intense, intimate President Kennedy gazing eagerly across the table at his female companion or workers on the picket line. His portrait of Carl Sandburg taken in 1957 is one of the best ever recorded. Other photos include Paul Robeson, whose remarkable passion leaps out to the viewer, Dr. King delivering an enthralling speech from a church pulpit and Jimmy Hoffa watched over by a bodyguard as a message is whispered in his ear.

Sons Marc and Jerry, who are fellow artists in the show, echo the social realism of Syd Harris in diverse ways. Marc Harris' photographs deal with the search for identity among young punk rockers and their audiences and gays and lesbians at their community parades. Jerry Harris' work highlights the cultural and political messages in the layered and weathered posters seen on Chicago's buildings and walls.

Syd Harris, who fought in the Spanish Civil War and was a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, died in 1989. He was a labor photographer and journalist for many major unions in Chicago. Most of his work is archived at the Chicago Historical Society but has not been publicly shown until now.

Marc Harris has worked professionally in the field for over twenty years and is a top portrait photographer. Jerry Harris worked as a photographer and journalist for the United Steelworkers Union and currently is a professor of History.
 
 

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