Esteemed Photographer Brian Harris Obituary: A Life Through the Camera

The photographer Brian Harris, who passed away aged 73 of cancer, left school at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become among the most esteemed UK photojournalists of his era.

An International Professional Journey

He travelled across the globe as a freelance or a staffer for Fleet Street publications, covering such events as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkans and throughout Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands conflict and four US election campaigns. He also created lyrical landscapes of the rural areas around his Essex home.

According to his estimates he took more than 2m photographs, averaging 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He continued posting archive and new images each day on online platforms until a few weeks before his passing, and had been arranging to deliver a lecture on his life and work.

Memorable Assignments

Tales from a rollercoaster career featured an costly premium flight in 1991 to attend the burial in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from sunstroke 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 tide on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a front page, and are often reprinted as a striking example of staged photo hubris. His 2016’s memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, was named after an irritated John Major striking him with a rolled-up briefing paper.

Professional Milestones

He became the Times’ youngest ever staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for nearly a decade, including coverage of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he considered censorship of his most powerful images of famine in Africa.

In 1986 Harris became chief photographer as the team was put together to create a major newspaper. He was instrumental in forming the style of editorial photography that the paper became known for, helping raise the bar for news photography and newspaper design, in dramatic images filling multiple pages. Among numerous 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 war memorial organisation, which resulted in an exhibition launched in London – where he gave a personal tour to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a moving book, Remembered.

Early Life and Start

Harris was born in east London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later helped his son construct a darkroom in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family moved farther east – and up in the world – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended a local secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in woodwork and metalwork, before departing at 16.

At a central London 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 Impact

Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as astonishing. Nick Turpin, who collaborated with him in the early days, described him as “a great and fearless photographer”, an inspiration to a cohort of young colleagues. Another associate, a union representative, said he “transformed the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ peak era”.

Private World

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a toddler 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, sharing sunny images of fine dining and quality drinks, and returning to important sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His final project, finished a few weeks before his demise, was to donate his extensive collection of 55 years’ work to a long-term repository. Among his favourite archive images he commented on a youthful Harris drinking large glasses 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 ended in divorce.

He is survived by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his second marriage, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.