Proud Chelsea presents a collection of Debbie Harry portraits from 1977 – 1988 taken by acclaimed photographer and personal friend Brian Aris.
With her two-toned bleached-blonde hair, plucky punk outfits and intoxicating stage presence, Harry is the ultimate 70s icon. The front woman of infamous New-Wave Punk band Blondie, her distinct and sultry vocals headed a unique mix of disco, pop, rap and reggae. Aris was first asked to photograph Blondie’s enigmatic lead singer in 1977 just before the band exploded into popularity, and continues to shoot promotional material and portraits for Harry today.
“Nobody could have been more surprised than I was when Debbie finally walked into my studio for that initial shoot. No band, no heavy American management presence – just a quietly-spoken, polite and extremely beautiful girl with a natural but devastatingly sexy look. She floored everybody there.”
This photographic collection at Proud Chelsea combines several of Aris and Harry’s portrait sittings from Blondie’s heyday, colourful shots taken in Debbie Harry’s New York apartment and a selection of nostalgic Polaroids. Amongst classic and iconic images, Proud Galleries will be exhibiting never before seen shots uncovered from Aris’ personal archive: including stills from the video shoot of “Island of Lost Souls” on the Scilly Isles; and sittings in London and NY.
Aris has said of Harry: “She’s unique: certainly one of the most creative people that I’ve worked with, which probably comes from the Andy Warhol influence and her New York background … She’s endlessly drawing inspiration from those around her and twisting their looks to work for her.”
Almost 40 years since the iconic band came together in 1974, and 35 years since Aris’ first shoot with Harry; Proud Chelsea reveals the 70s bombshell as she has never been seen before.
Brian Aris began his career as a photojournalist covering the civil unrest in Northern Ireland, wars in Vietnam and the Middle East and famines in Africa. His photographs of the troubles in Belfast were printed in Life magazine and shortly after, in contrast, one of his photographs of Princess Anne visiting Sudan appeared on the cover of British Vogue.
After ten years of reportage he opened his first studio in London and began to photograph models and friends in the music business. So began a period in which he comprehensively covered the explosion in British music throughout the eighties and early nineties. These sessions included David Bowie, Sting and The Police, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Blondie, Boy George, Madonna, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Bob Geldof and of course the late Paula Yates who was one of Brian’s favourite subjects.
He was the official photographer (summoned by friend Bob Geldof) to take the now famous Band Aid group pictures and in following years photographed Live Aid, Net Aid and most recently Live8. Credits on CDs include George Michael, Sting, Dire Straits, Michael McDonald, Human League, Linda Rondstat, Boomtown Rats, Mike Oldfield, Kenny Rogers, Rick Springfield, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Moody Blues, Cliff Richards, Tina Turner, Elton John, The Who and of course Blondie.
His studio work expanded to cover photography of actors, authors, musicians and politicians. He was asked to take official photographs of Her Majesty the Queen to mark her 70th birthday and later the official pictures of the golden wedding anniversary of Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh. He has also photographed other members of the royal family including Princess Margaret, The Duchess of York, Viscount Linley, The Duchess of Kent, Peter Phillips and recently The Duke of York.
On the editorial side, Aris has taken the official wedding pictures of Sir Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, Sting and Trudy Styler, David Bowie and Iman, David and Victoria Beckham, Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, Liza Minelli and David Gest and, in 2008, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly at Windsor.
Gilles Decamps
Debbie Harry, queen of Punk
Photographs by Brian Aris
On view 17th January through 17th February 2013
Proud Chelsea
161 King’s Road
London SW3 5XP
United Kingdom
