UPDATE: A retrospective of the photographer’s work, “Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story” is on view at:
- The Harold Washington Library in Chicago until June 4, 2012 (thanks to devivre) & at the
- Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh until April 7, 2012.

» find more exhibitions here «

© Charles “Teenie” Harris, 1930s-1940s, One Shot Teenie

#1: Two young women eating caramel apples, 1940-1945
#2: A woman outside Kay’s Valet Shoppe, 1938-1945
#3: Boys playing brass instruments, 1938-1945
#4: A woman poses with a car on Mulford Street in Homewood, 1937

In the days of film, especially in a controlled setting, photographers often made redundant shots to make sure they captured what they wanted. Not Charles “Teenie” Harris. A native of Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the city’s cultural center of African-American life, Harris was a semi-pro athlete and a numbers runner before he bought his first camera in the 1930s. He opened a photography studio and specialized in glamour portraits, earning the nickname “One Shot” because he rarely made his subjects sit for a second take. (read more)

(via thelingerieaddict)