The Washington, D.C., Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists invites members and colleagues to join its one-hour Zoom webinar on Tuesday, May 24, at 7 p.m., to listen to SPJ DC board member Denise Dunbar, publisher of the Alexandria Times, interview Dennis Brack Sr., an award-winning photographer who has covered 11 administrations in the White House (and The Beatles’ first concert in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Coliseum).
When: Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 7 p.m. EDT
Topic: What has it been like to capture some iconic moments in 6 decades of being a photographer with access to high-profile subjects
Register: please sign up in advance here (no charge)
While Brack has a long and impressive photojournalism career, the interview idea grew out of a thought of trying to interview Paul McCartney, one of the original Beatles, while he is in Baltimore June 12 for a stop on his U.S. “Got Back” concert tour. Striking out on that idea, the emphasis shifted to Brack’s photos of The Fab Four, so the interview will start with a conversation about those photos from The Beatles’ visit to Washington, D.C., in February 1964.
The Beatles’ first concert in the U.S. was in Washington Feb. 11, 1964. They had appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in New York, and two days later were in D.C. McCartney’s performance in Baltimore is the first return there since The Beatles performed there in September 1964 during the American tour that started in D.C.
“I was going to be a baggy sweeger.” Thanks to an enthusiast who saw an announcement about this webinar, you also can read the transcript of an interview WWDC deejay Carroll James did with The Beatles on that same visit Dennis Brack photographed. They were in a remote broadcast trailer at the Washington Coliseum before the concert.