Harry Benson

Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

“Sir Winston Churchill was to me the most important person of the 20th Century and there are many who will agree. As a child, I listened to Churchill’s speeches during the war and I remember the inspiration he gave the British people during those very hard times. Listening to him had been part of what made me want to become a photographer and to be at the center of what was happening in the world.” – Harry Benson

“Harry Benson is certainly correct in saying Churchill is one of the most important figures of the 20th Century. This is an image full of power and pathos. Churchill was educated at one of the top schools in England. Harrow School, along with Eton, was and still is the breeding ground for future. Prime Ministers and the elite. In true English style and contradiction these schools were called Public Schools which in fact
they were the complete opposite, super private which only a select privileged few were allowed to enter. Each year Churchill would return to his alma mater and give a speech often at Christmas time. This was the last time he did this and he died a few years later in 1965. It was obviously an emotional day for Churchill. Greeted by the young students it must have stirred meditations on the passage of time and memories of how he too was once the same age as the students, full of ambition, who cheer and greet him in their reverence for his remarkable life as many of us still do.” - Peter Fetterman