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Curated by Lulu Lippencott, Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story at
Carnegie Museum of Art, was a groundbreaking retrospective of African American
photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris. Harris’s photographs—made in his studio
and for the Pittsburgh Courier, the leading black newspaper of the time—chronicle
a vibrant black urban community during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. He
captured the poetry of everyday common experience, as well as the extraordinary
people who shaped the 20th century. A giant “TEENIE” wall greeted visitors along
with supergraphics of both Harris and the Hill District neighborhood where he did
most of his work. The exhibition featured 987 of Harris’s most significant images
chosen from nearly 80,000 of his negatives. These photos were featured in the first
gallery as larger-than-life-sized projections combined with a newly commissioned jazz
soundtrack. In the second gallery, the photos were part of a large-scale chronology
wall. This surrounded a long light table holding a web-based interactive with access
to the entire Harris archive along with a stack of Harris’s negative boxes. The last
gallery included prints of 12 images chosen by a panel of experts, maps showing where
Harris shot his photos and a documentary on his life. I also designed a 148-page gallery
guide, program booklet, wayfinding signage and the banner for the museum’s façade.

Architects Paul Rosenblatt and Shannon Ashmore of Springboard Design were terrific
partners on this project.

Projections by StoweNash Associates and Iontank. Original score by MCG Jazz. Web
archive by Night Kitchen Interactive. Exhibition photos by Tom Little and Brian Cohen.