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The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 from cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become one of the most respected British documentary photographers of his era.

A Global Professional Journey

He travelled the world as a independent or a staffer for major British publications, covering such events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, famine in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkan region and across Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands war and several US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic scenic views of the rural areas around his home county of Essex home.

According to his estimates he shot over 2m photographs, averaging 100 a day, but he stated that figure some years back. He continued posting archive and new images daily on social media up to a short time before his death, and had been planning to deliver a lecture on his career and experiences.

Memorable Assignments

Stories from a rollercoaster career featured an costly premium flight in 1991 to reach the burial in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from sunstroke and pneumonia and was treated with ice that had been employed to cool the body.

His 1983 images of the then Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, falling into the sea on Brighton beach were carried across multiple columns of a front page, and are often reprinted as a hideous example of staged photo hubris. His 2016 memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an irritated John Major striking him with a folded briefing paper.

Professional Highlights

He became the Times’ youngest ever staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for almost ten years, including coverage of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he considered editing 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 news photography and newspaper design, in dramatic images covering multiple pages. Among many awards, he was named the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in the former Eastern Bloc recording the collapse of communism.

He operated independently after being let go 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 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 east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later helped his son build a photo lab in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family relocated eastwards – and up in the world – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended Chase Cross secondary modern school, learning practical skills in woodwork and metalwork, before departing at 16.

At a central London agency, he quickly advanced from messenger boy to photographer, and began his professional career at east London local papers before moving on to major publications.

Peers and Legacy

Other photographers, often outpaced by him, remembered his work as astonishing. A colleague, who collaborated with him in the early days, described him as “a great and brave photographer”, an inspiration to a cohort 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 reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a three-year-old in primary school, and they became inseparable partners through his final decades. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they went on a road trip in Europe, sharing bright images of good meals and quality drinks, and returning to important sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His final project, completed a few weeks before his death, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a long-term repository. Among his preferred historical photos he commented on a very young 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 second marriage, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.