10 Favorite Photographs of Naomi Harris

In 1999, I moved to Miami to work on my first personal project. Haddon Hall was the last hotel in South Beach that allowed senior citizens to reside there. This photo was taken out back by the pool. Maria and Sonia were both “snowbirds,” they came from up north and spent the winter months at the hotel. I stumbled upon them sunning themselves, and I hope to be as elegant as these two ladies when I reach their age.

This is another image from my Haddon Hall series. Ida was doing her physical therapy after having had shoulder surgery. I love the expression of determination on her face and the fact that they are 2-pound weights and she has her pinky fingers up in a dainty manner as if she was holding a tea cup.

This was a portrait I took on assignment for Marie Claire UK for a story about people in Los Angeles and their love for their dogs. Pink dog, blue skies, multiple Davids….need I say more?

In 2006, I got to go to Basel, Switzerland, to shoot the 100 year old inventor of LSD, Dr. Albert Hofmann. Here he is with his wife Anita whom he had been married for 72 years at that point. It was one of those really magical assignments (regardless of the fact the story didn’t actually run) as I got to meet a true legend. And though Dr. Hofmann’s English wasn’t great and I didn’t speak Swiss German we still managed to communicate and share a laugh over the homemade plum schnapps and cakes he served me.

My second big personal project was documenting the swinging community around the US. This shot is from Swingstock, a 4-day camping and fornication festival held in Wisconsin where over 1,000 people attended. I loved the way this is a quite off moment where no sex is taking place, rather the couple is like any other suburban couple reading Harry Potter and doing the crossword puzzle. My first monograph which is on this subject and is called “America Swings” was published by TASCHEN books.

In 2011, I took a 4-month long road trip across my homeland, Canada, thanks to a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. I don’t normally take landscape or still life photos but I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the cloud “steaming” out of the coffee cup! I took this shot in Davidson, Saskatchewan, just days before I rescued my dog Maggie from an Indian Reservation. From my “Oh Canada” series.

This is another shot from that same road trip. My mother came out to meet me in Banff, Alberta and we traveled around together for a couple of weeks. Here we are in the Canadian north themed room at the Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall. It’s funny, I have very few photographs of my mother, and even fewer pictures of me, so to have both of us in one shot is quite a rarity.

In March 2012, I traveled across Canada to work on an exhibition for the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax. This group of gentlemen are members of the Sikh Motorcycle Club and shot at the beach in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was lucky that it stopped raining briefly and I was able to get moody clouds and shoot this with a dramatic lighting set up. They were excellent sports bringing their motorcycles onto the beach for me. In British Columbia, the helmet laws permit Sikhs to ride their bikes wearing their traditional turbans without requiring them to wear helmets.

My latest project is called EUSA and it involves shooting American-themed places in Europe and European-themed places in America as a reaction to the homogenization of European and American cultures. This photo was taken in Orange City, Iowa at the annual Tulip Festival. I was shooting the parade where the children scrub the streets in anticipation of the Queen’s arrival and this little girl stood out to me with her cherubic face and old-fashioned costume.

Another photo from my EUSA series.This image was taken at a Wild West theme park called Sioux City on Gran Canaria Island. They have a number of “American” shows for the park goers and this was the villain. I’m currently working on the design of the book which hopefully will be published in the fall of 2016.