Naomi Harris (born May 26, 1973) is a Canadian photographer living in Toronto. She is known for her portraits of people from sub-cultures such as retirement communities and nudist beaches.

Biography

Harris was born in Toronto and obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA) from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. After completing her degree, she moved to New York City where she received her photographic training at the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

. Professionally, several of her personal projects were shot while on road trips, resulting in solo exhibitions and accompanying books. Her work has also been published in the ''New York Times Magazine'' as well as the London ''

Sunday Times Magazine ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' is a magazine included with ''The Sunday Times''. In 1962 it became the first colour supplement to be published as a supplement to a UK newspaper, and its arrival "broke the mould of weekend newspaper publishing". ...

,'' ''The Telegraph Magazine,'' ''Marie Claire UK,'', ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

''. Additionally, Harris taught classes at her alma mater, the International Center of Photography.

''Haddon Hall Hotel''

Harris moved to

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

in December 1999 to begin her first personal project documenting the last hotel in South Beach that catered to senior citizens. She lived there for two months getting to know the residents and becoming a kind of "surrogate granddaughter". The project, called "Haddon Hall Hotel", received the 2001 "International Prize for Young Photojournalism" from

Agfa Agfa-Gevaert N.V. (Agfa) is a Belgian-German multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, and distributes Analog photography, analogue and digital imaging products, software, and systems. The company began as a dye manufacturer in 1867 ...

and Das Bildforum in Germany. The photographs underlined how pensioners experienced their lives "in the midst of waiting and boredom, remembering with nostalgia the years they lived." Reproducing the vibrant hues of Miami, the series was described as being offbeat and kitsch in terms of its style.

''America Swings''

While living in Miami, Harris began photographing people on a nude beach where she also met some swingers. After attending one of their parties, she decided to photograph this subculture. She returned to New York City in April 2002 and began researching the lifestyle. The following year, she shot her first swinger session in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. She went on to photograph more than 38 parties, over a period of 48 months, all across the U.S. The project was published as the monograph ''America Swings'' (2008), edited by

Dian Hanson Dian Hanson (born November 2, 1951) is an American magazine and book editor. Career Hanson began her publishing career as an United States, American pornographic magazine editor, historian, and occasional model, helping found the 1970s hardcore jo ...

and with an interview by artist

Richard Prince Richard Prince (born August 6, 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a photographic reproduction of a photograph ...

.''

''Oh Canada!''

In May 2010, Harris received a grant from the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

for the Arts, allowing her to undertake a road trip across Canada. She traveled along the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

, photographing ordinary Canadians and oddities like a giant coffee pot. She began the journey on May 23, 2011 (

Victoria Day Victoria Day () is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Vic ...

) in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

and ended the trip in

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

on September 5, 2011 (

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

). The cross-country trip, from West to East, allowed her to meet people from all walks of life. She commented that "How we choose to photograph people asrepercussions. We also have a responsibility to our subjects to share their stories and likeness in a way they would want to be portrayed". The photos were shown in an exhibit at North York Centre in Toronto and covered in Canadian news media such as

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

magazine.

''EUSA''

Regarding issues of cultural appropriation and globalization, Harris's ''EUSA'' exhibition took place at the Circuit Gallery in Toronto from August 27-September 19, 2015. The photographs depicted European themed places in America and American themed places in Europe, making it difficult to distinguish between the two continents. Harris photographed a rockabilly festival in Hungary and Viking themed "Danish Days" in California, among other events. Stating that each thematic setting had inaccuracies, Harris added that "it becomes a sentimental and idealized depiction—an homage to a heritage that isn't one's own." An accompanying book entitled "E.U.S.A." was published in 2018.

100 Days

In 2017, Harris photographed president

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

supporters while driving across the United States for three months. She was on assignment for

magazine, beginning her journey in Washington D.C. and driving southwards, then westwards back up to Niagara Falls. She slept most nights in her car in

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

parking lots and posed many of the subjects while they held her pet dog. What surprised her was that many of the supporters "were less optimistic about Trump and more jaded by the political process as a whole." An exhibit of her "100 Days" photos was held in New York City at the Half King Photography Series gallery.

Other projects

In 2018, Harris undertook another type of journey, this time across

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. Wearing period clothing, she recreated the 19th-century canoe trips taken by painter

Frances Anne Hopkins Frances Anne Hopkins (February 2, 1838March 5, 1919) was a British painter. She was the third of Frederick William Beechey's five children. In 1858, she married a Hudson's Bay Company official, Edward Hopkins, whose work took him to North Americ ...

and her travelling companions, local fur traders. Harris helped with the paddling and

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

, carrying the canoe on her shoulders across dry land when needed. The art project was funded by a grant from

for the Arts New Chapter.

Publications

Publication by Harris

*''America Swings.'' Cologne:

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt Taschen and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Tasch ...

, 2008. Edited by Dian Hanson. . **Taschen, 2010. . Paperback. *''E.U.S.A.'' Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2018. Edited by Klaus Kehrer. *''Haddon Hall''. Athens: Void, 2021. .

Publications with contributions by Harris

*''The New Erotic Photography.'' Edited by Dian Hanson and Eric Kroll. Taschen, 2007. . *''Image Makers, Image Takers.'' By Anne-Celine Jaeger. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 2007. .

Awards

*2001 - Honorable Mention for Yann Geffroy Award presented by Grazia Neri Agency, Italy *2001 - Finalist for the W. Eugene Smith Grant *2001 - Winner of the International Prize for Young Photojournalism presented by Agfa and Das Bildforum, Germany *2002 - One of the "30 Emerging Photographers To Watch" as selected by Photo District News *2004 - Represented Canada at the World Press Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam *2010 - Recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts Project Grant

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Naomi 1973 births Living people Artists from New York (state) Canadian photographers Canadian women photographers Canadian women artists