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The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away aged 73 from cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to work as a courier, and eventually became one of the most respected British photojournalists of his era.

A Global Career

He journeyed across the globe as a independent or a staffer for Fleet Street titles, documenting such events as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, famine in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands conflict and several US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic scenic views of the rural areas around his home county of Essex home.

By his own calculation he shot over two million photographs, taking an average of 100 a day, but he stated that figure some years back. He kept sharing historical and new images each day on online platforms until a few weeks before his death, and had been planning to deliver a lecture on his life and work.

Notable Assignments

Stories from a turbulent career included an costly premium flight in 1991 to attend the funeral in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from sunstroke and pneumonia and was cooled down with ice that had been used to preserve the body.

His 1983 images of the then Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, falling into the sea on Brighton beach were carried across multiple columns of a leading page, and are often reprinted as a striking example of photo-opportunity hubris. His 2016 memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an exasperated John Major hitting him with a folded briefing paper.

Career Highlights

He became the Times’ youngest ever staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for almost ten years, including coverage of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he saw as censorship of his most powerful images of famine in Africa.

In 1986 Harris became chief photographer as the team was put together to launch a new newspaper. He played a key role in shaping the style of editorial photography that the paper became known for, helping set new standards for press images and newspaper design, in striking images filling front and back pages. Among many awards, he was honoured as the What the Papers Say photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe recording the collapse of communism.

He operated independently after being let go in 1999, and significant projects thereafter included a year spent capturing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the war memorial organisation, which led to an exhibition launched in London – where he gave a private viewing to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a moving book, Remembered.

Early Life and Start

Harris was born in east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later helped his son construct a darkroom in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family moved eastwards – and up in the world – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended a local secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in carpentry and metalwork, before departing at 16.

At a Fleet Street photo agency, he quickly advanced from delivery boy to photographer, and began his working life at eastern London local papers before progressing to national publications.

Peers and Impact

Other photographers, often outpaced by him, remembered his work as remarkable. Nick Turpin, who worked with him in the initial stages, described him as “a great and fearless photographer”, an inspiration to a generation of junior colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ last golden age”.

Personal Life

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had first met as a toddler in infant school, and they became inseparable partners through his remaining years. After learning of his illness, they went on a road trip in Europe, sharing bright images of fine dining and good wine, and revisiting significant sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, completed a short time before his demise, was to transfer his extensive collection of 55 years’ work to a long-term repository. Among his preferred historical photos he commented on a youthful Harris drinking generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a fortunate life I’ve had – no remorse and no ‘Must Do’s’”.

He was married twice, both marriages ended in divorce.

He is survived by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his second marriage, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.