🔗 Share this article Esteemed Photographer Brian Harris Obituary: An Existence Behind the Camera The photojournalist B. Harris, who passed away aged 73 of cancer, left school at 16 to become a messenger boy, and eventually became among the most esteemed UK documentary photographers of his era. An International Career He travelled the world as a freelance or a employee for Fleet Street publications, covering such events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkans and across Africa, the consequences of the Falklands conflict and four US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic landscapes of the rural areas around his Essex home. By his own calculation he took over 2m images, averaging 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He kept sharing archive and recent images daily on online platforms up to a short time before his passing, and had been arranging to give a talk on his career and experiences. Notable Projects Stories from a rollercoaster career included an costly premium flight in 1991 to attend the burial in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from heatstroke and pneumonia and was treated with ice that had been employed to cool the body. His 1983 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 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 exasperated John Major striking him with a rolled-up briefing paper. Professional Milestones He became the a major newspaper’s youngest ever staff photographer when he joined the paper in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for nearly a decade, including reporting of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he considered editing of his strongest images of starvation in Africa. In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was put together to launch a major newspaper. He was instrumental in shaping the style of journalistic photography that the paper became known for, helping set new standards for news photography and newspaper design, in dramatic images covering multiple pages. Among many awards, he was honoured as the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe recording the collapse of communism. He operated independently after being made redundant in 1999, and significant projects after that included a year spent capturing cemeteries across the world in 2006 for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which resulted in an display launched in London – where he gave a personal tour to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a moving book, Remembered. Background and Start Harris was born in east 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 moved farther east – and to a better area – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to Chase Cross secondary modern school, learning useful skills in woodwork and metalwork, before leaving at 16. At a central London agency, he rose rapidly from delivery boy to photographer, and began his working life at east London local papers before progressing to national publications. Peers and Legacy Other photographers, often scooped by him, remembered his work as astonishing. Nick Turpin, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, described him as “a superb and fearless photographer”, an influence to a cohort of young colleagues. Another associate, a union representative, said he “transformed 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 infant 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 quality drinks, and returning to important sites including Dresden and Ypres. His last task, finished a short time before his death, was to transfer his vast archive of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his preferred archive images he reflected on a youthful 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, each union concluded with divorce. He is remembered by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his second marriage, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.