🔗 Share this article Esteemed Photographer Brian Harris Life Story: An Existence Through the Lens The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 from cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to become a messenger boy, and eventually became one of the most respected UK documentary photographers of his generation. An International Professional Journey He journeyed the world as a freelance or a employee for Fleet Street titles, documenting major happenings including the collapse of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkans and across Africa, the consequences of the Falklands conflict and four US presidential campaigns. He also created lyrical landscapes of the countryside around his Essex home. By his own calculation he took over 2m photographs, taking an average of 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He kept sharing historical and new images daily on social media until a short time before his death, and had been arranging to deliver a lecture on his career and experiences. Notable Projects Tales from a turbulent career included an expenses-shredding business class flight in 1991 to reach the funeral in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he fainted from sunstroke 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 carried across multiple columns of a leading page, and are regularly reproduced as a striking example of staged photo hubris. His 2016’s memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, was named after an exasperated John Major hitting him with a folded briefing paper. Career Highlights He became the a major newspaper’s most youthful staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for nearly a decade, including coverage of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he saw as editing of his most powerful images of famine in Africa. In 1986 Harris became chief 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 was famous for, helping raise the bar for news photography and newspaper design, in striking images covering 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 fall 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 Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which led to an exhibition launched in London – where he gave a personal tour to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a emotional book, Remembered. Early Life and Start Harris was raised in east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later helped his son construct a darkroom in the garage. In the 1950s, the family relocated farther east – and to a better area – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended a local secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in woodwork and metalwork, before departing at 16. At a Fleet Street photo agency, he quickly advanced from messenger boy to photographer, and began his working life at east London local papers before progressing to national publications. Colleagues and Legacy Fellow photographers, often outpaced by him, recalled his work as astonishing. Nick Turpin, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, described him as “a great and fearless photographer”, an inspiration to a generation of junior colleagues. Tim Dawson, a freelance organiser, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ last golden age”. Private World In 2001 Harris made contact through a website with Nikki Bertroya, whom he had first met as a three-year-old in primary school, and they became inseparable partners through his remaining years. After learning of his illness, they embarked on a road trip in Europe, sharing bright images of good meals and good wine, and returning to significant sites including Dresden and Ypres. His last task, completed a short time before his death, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his favourite archive images 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, each union concluded with divorce. He is survived by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his later union, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.