Portraits by Harry Benson displayed at Holyrood

23 August 2007

Scottish photographer Harry Benson visited Holyrood on Thursday 23 August for the hanging of his portraits of the Scottish Parliament's former Presiding Officers, Sir David Steel and George Reid.

The portraits were taken at the Parliament in January 2007.

Born in Glasgow in 1929, Mr Benson made his name as a photographer after covering The Beatles’ first trip to the United States in 1964.

Other previous subjects have included Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and every President of the United States since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Sir David Steel served as Presiding Officer from 12 May 1999 until 7 May 2003. George Reid was Presiding Officer for the second session of Parliament, until 14 May 2007. The portraits are displayed in Queensberry House.

On Saturday Harry Benson will be joined by award winning photographer Keiran Dodds at the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics where they will discuss the changes in photojournalism from the mid-20th century to present day and beyond.