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The photojournalist Brian Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 of cancer, left school at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become one of the most respected British documentary photographers of his generation.

An International Career

He travelled the world as a independent or a employee for major British titles, covering major happenings including the collapse of the Berlin Wall, famine in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands war and several US election campaigns. Additionally, he produced lyrical scenic views of the rural areas around his Essex home.

According to his estimates he shot more than 2m images, taking an average of 100 a day, but he made that count several years ago. He continued posting archive and recent images daily on social media until a short time before his death, and had been arranging to give a talk on his career and experiences.

Notable Projects

Tales from a rollercoaster career included an costly premium flight in 1991 to attend the funeral in India of the assassinated leader 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 then Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, toppling into the sea on Brighton beach were carried across eight 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, took the title from an irritated John Major hitting him with a folded briefing paper.

Professional Milestones

He was appointed as the a major newspaper’s most youthful staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for nearly a decade, including reporting 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 starvation in Africa.

In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was put together to launch a major 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 multiple pages. Among many awards, he was honoured as the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in the former Eastern Bloc documenting the collapse of communism.

He operated independently after being let go in 1999, and significant projects thereafter included a year spent photographing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 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.

Early Life and Beginnings

Harris was born in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later assisted him construct a photo lab in the garage. In the 1950s, the family moved farther east – and to a better area – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended Chase Cross secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in carpentry and metal crafting, before leaving at 16.

At a Fleet Street photo agency, he rose rapidly from messenger boy to photographer, and launched his working life at east London local papers before moving on to national publications.

Peers and Legacy

Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as remarkable. A colleague, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, described him as “a superb and fearless photographer”, an influence to a cohort of junior colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he “transformed the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ last golden age”.

Private World

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a website with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a toddler in primary school, and they became close companions through his final decades. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they went on a driving tour in Europe, sharing bright images of good meals and good wine, and returning to important sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, finished a short time before his death, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his preferred archive images he reflected on a youthful Harris consuming 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 remembered by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his later union, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.