Harry Gerwein

My name is Harry Gerwien. As a photographer I served in the U.S. Navy for 21 years, on my retirement in 1990, I freelanced in the Washington D.C area. 1993 went to work as a staff photographer for Military Newspapers of Virginia I worked  for them for 23-years.

As a photojournalist, I have covered a wide range of stories, such as submarine operations in the Arctic, space shuttle landings, National Guard peace keepers ion Bosnia.  Traveled to Iraq to do stories about local Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard units that were participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

My work has been published nationally and internationally. I have had covers and cover stories in the New York Times  Sunday Magazine, and covers on US News & World report. Other photos have appeared in the pages of Time, Newsweek, Esquire, and the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Times and Washington Post.

I am the author of the book Serendipity, A chronicle of a Navy Photojournalist.

The above was a nutshell of my life before MINI! Like many my first exposure to the Mini/MINI Cooper world was the movies The Italian Job. The introduction of the New MINI really caught my interest.  At the age of 59,May 2007 purchases a 2006 Cooper and was hooked.
I had never belonged to a car club in my life, I thought they were a bunch of nerds.  The MINI community soon proved my assumptions wrong and I was a member of Seven Cities MINI and Hampton Roads MiNI.
June 2007 participated in the Guinness. World Record of MINI’s in a Parade. Two-years-later, as president of Seven Cities helped organize and saw over the second Guinness World .Record event.  We had MINIS and Mini’s from 18 states and from Ontario Canada participate.  By the way the 2007 event we broke the record and held it for a couple years.

I became a MINI enthusiast, eventually convincing my wife Katie to sell her Toyota and purchase a MINI. We love and have participated. In many local events and MINIS on The Dragon, MINIS on the Mack and I have participated in seven MINIS takes the States and getting ready for next months event

My photography has carried over to my MINI life with photos published in MC2 and local car publications.

At the purchase of my first MINI, my motoring advisor, Mike Arneson, shook my hand and said, "Now that you own a MINI your life will change"!  At the time I thought he was crazy. Over the past 16-years my life has changed.  I have a  national family of MINI/Mini owners 

When, and it is very often, I’m asked do I love my MINI? I always respond the MINI is a "Mechanical Fountain of Youth"