The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away aged 73 from cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become one of the most respected UK documentary photographers of his era.
A Global Professional Journey
He travelled the world as a independent or a staffer for Fleet Street publications, covering such events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands conflict and four US presidential campaigns. He also created poetic landscapes of the countryside around his home county of Essex home.
According to his estimates he shot over 2m images, 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 social media until a short time before his passing, and had been planning to give a talk on his career and experiences.Memorable Projects
Stories 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 collapsed from heatstroke and pneumonia and was treated 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, falling into the tide on Brighton beach were carried across multiple columns of a leading page, and are often reprinted as a striking example of staged photo hubris. His 2016’s memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an exasperated John Major striking him with a rolled-up briefing paper.
Career Highlights
He became the a major newspaper’s youngest ever staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for nearly a decade, including reporting of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he saw as censorship of his most powerful images of famine in Africa.
In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was assembled to create 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 dramatic images filling front and back pages. Among numerous awards, he was named the What the Papers Say photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe recording the fall of communism.
He worked as a freelance after being made redundant in 1999, and major projects thereafter included a year spent photographing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which resulted in an display launched in London – where he gave a private viewing to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a emotional book, Remembered.
Early Life and Beginnings
Harris was born in east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later assisted him construct a darkroom in the garage. In the 1950s, the family relocated farther east – and to a better area – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to a local secondary modern school, learning useful skills in carpentry and metalwork, before leaving at 16.
At a central London agency, he quickly advanced from messenger boy to photographer, and launched his professional career at eastern London local papers before moving on to national publications.
Peers and Legacy
Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as astonishing. Nick Turpin, who worked with him in the early days, described him as “a superb and fearless photographer”, an influence to a cohort of young colleagues. Tim Dawson, a union representative, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ last golden age”.
Personal Life
In 2001 Harris made contact through a website with Nikki, whom he had first met as a toddler 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, posting sunny images of fine dining and good wine, and returning to significant sites including Dresden and Ypres.
His last task, finished a few weeks before his death, was to transfer his vast archive of five decades of work to a long-term repository. Among his favourite archive images he reflected on a very young Harris drinking large glasses of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a fortunate life I’ve had – no regrets and no ‘Must Do’s’”.
He was wed 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.
