The Harris & Ewing Studio at 1311-1313 F Street, N.W. is significant both for its place in the history of photography in Washington, D.C. and for it being a valuable work in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The building's appearance is the result of a major remodelling in 1924 by the local architectural firm of Alexander Sonnemann and Louis Justement for the photographic studios of Harris & Ewing, Washington's most noted portrait photographer in the first half of the twentieth century and creator of the city's first news photo service. The building represents an important component of Washington's commercial and architectural heritage.
The Harris & Ewing firm was founded by George W. Harris and Martha Ewing in Washington, D.C. in 1905. While always keeping the original name, Ewing sold her interest to Harris and left the business about ten years later. Harris continued to run the firm until 1955.
George W. Harris was born in Wales in 1872 and emigrated to this country as a boy. He grew up in Pittsburgh, where he showed an early interest in photography. At the age of 17 he covered the Johnstown Flood of 1889 which helped to establish him as a news photographer. After working in several different parts of the country, most notably for the Hearst News Service in San Fransisco between 1900-1903, Harris covered President Theodore Roosevelt on an extensive train trip. The president personally urged him to start a photographic news service in Washington because it was so difficult at that time for out-of-town newspapers to get timely photographs of notable people and events in the Nation's Capital.
Harris saw the potential for a photographic news service at a time when newspapers were just beginning to use photographs. In his first year in Washington, he signed up forty newspapers for his service, with Martha Ewing serving as a business manager. The studio went on to become the largest photographic studio in Washington and Harris' photographs became widely used by the press throughout the country and the world. His was the only major news photoservice owned and operated wholly in Washington. The business was so successful that Harris went on the open branches of the service in New York and London. In 1939, when Harris celebrated his fiftieth year in photography, he had one hundred employees and a file of over five million photographs. By the time Mr. Harris sold the photo news service business in 1945, it was the largest photographic enterprise in the country, photographing 10,000 people annually. He continued to run the portrait business until 1955.
The building appears to be in good condition and is currently used by a restaurant.