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The photojournalist Brian Harris, who passed away aged 73 of cancer, left school at 16 to work as a courier, and eventually became among the most esteemed British photojournalists of his era.

A Global Career

He travelled across the globe as a freelance or a employee for major British titles, documenting such events as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, famine in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the consequences of the Falklands conflict and several US election campaigns. He also created poetic landscapes of the countryside around his Essex home.

According to his estimates he shot more than two million images, taking an average of 100 a day, but he made that count several years ago. He continued posting archive 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 career and experiences.

Notable Projects

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

His 1983’s images of the at that time Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, toppling into the tide on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a front page, and are often reprinted as a hideous example of photo-opportunity hubris. His 2016 memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, was named after an irritated John Major hitting him with a folded briefing paper.

Career Milestones

He was appointed as the Times’ most youthful staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for almost ten years, including reporting of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he saw as editing of his strongest images of famine in Africa.

In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was put together to launch a new newspaper. He played a key role in forming the style of journalistic photography that the paper was famous for, helping set new standards for news photography and newspaper design, in striking images covering front and back pages. Among many awards, he was named the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe documenting the fall of communism.

He operated independently after being made redundant in 1999, and major projects after that included a year spent photographing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the war memorial organisation, which led to an display launched in London – where he gave a private viewing to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a emotional book, Remembered.

Background and Beginnings

Harris was born in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later helped his son construct a darkroom in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family relocated farther east – and up in the world – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to Chase Cross secondary modern school, acquiring useful skills in carpentry and metalwork, before departing at 16.

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

Peers and Legacy

Other photographers, often outpaced by him, recalled his work as remarkable. Nick Turpin, who collaborated with him in the early days, called him “a superb and brave photographer”, an influence to a cohort of junior colleagues. Tim Dawson, a freelance organiser, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ peak era”.

Personal Life

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a three-year-old in infant school, and they became close companions through his remaining years. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they went on a driving tour in Europe, posting sunny images of fine dining and good wine, and revisiting important sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, completed a short time before his demise, was to transfer his vast archive of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his favourite historical photos he reflected on a youthful Harris drinking generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a blessed life I’ve had – no remorse and no ‘Must Do’s’”.

He was married twice, both marriages concluded with divorce.

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