Sean Alonzo Harris

seanalonzoharris.com

Can you remember the first time you got paid to take a photograph?

My first payday as a photographer was when I won the James VanDerZee Black Heritage Award. I was only seventeen years old and I won first place and honorable mention. My photo teacher didn’t tell me that he entered my work and when I walked into the exhibition I saw my images on the wall, along with a gold ribbon hanging next to the work. Part of the show was a short film about James VanDerZee. This was the first time I was introduced to his work and the story of a black professional photographer chronicling the life of black people made a profound and lasting impression on me and my future work as a photographer.

If you weren’t a photographer, what would you do?

My other dream when I was growing up was to play professional baseball, specifically playing third base for the Red Sox. Just kidding. I did spend a lot of my time playing baseball and coaching Babe Ruth League. I always enjoyed working with kids and thought I might end up teaching high school and coaching.

When you need it, what inspires you?

Listening to Charles Mingus and looking at Roy DeCarava’s work. My favorite Mingus album is Mingus/Mingus/Mingus and my go to DeCarava’s book is The Sound That I Saw or The Sticky Flypaper of Life.

What superpower would you want? Feel free to invent one.

Time travel! I would go back in time and photograph all the Jazz legends and Negro League Baseball, and then come back and create a photo monograph.

What are the top 2 things on your bucket list?

1. Cross country road trip in a camper van to all the National Parks and all the major art museums, with all my camera gear of course.
2. Travel to all the national baseball parks in a season and see a game in every park. Bonus if I can photograph some players.

When was the last time you watched the sun rise?

What do you know now, you wish you’d known when you first started out?