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The photojournalist B. Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 of cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to become a messenger boy, and went on to become one of the most respected UK documentary photographers of his era.

An International Career

He journeyed the world as a freelance or a staffer for major British titles, documenting major happenings including the fall 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 election campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic scenic views of the countryside around his home county of Essex home.

By his own calculation he took over two million images, taking an average of 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He continued posting historical and recent images daily on social media until a short time before his death, and had been arranging to give a talk on his career and experiences.

Memorable Assignments

Tales from a rollercoaster career featured an expenses-shredding premium flight in 1991 to attend the funeral in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he fainted from heatstroke 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 published across eight columns of a leading page, and are often reprinted as a hideous example of photo-opportunity hubris. His 2016’s memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an irritated 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 joined the paper in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked around the world for almost ten years, including coverage 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 became chief photographer as the team was put together to launch a new 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 broadsheet design, in dramatic images filling multiple pages. Among numerous awards, he was named the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe recording the fall of communism.

He operated independently after being made redundant in 1999, and major 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.

Early Life and Start

Harris was raised in eastern 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 relocated eastwards – and to a better area – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to a local secondary modern school, acquiring useful skills in carpentry and metalwork, before leaving at 16.

At a central London photo agency, he rose rapidly from delivery boy to photographer, and began his professional career at east London local papers before progressing to major publications.

Colleagues and Impact

Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, remembered his work as astonishing. A colleague, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, called him “a superb and brave photographer”, an influence to a generation 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 reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a three-year-old in infant school, and they became close companions through his remaining years. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they embarked on a road trip in Europe, posting sunny images of fine dining and good wine, and revisiting significant sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, finished a few weeks before his demise, was to donate his vast archive of five decades of work to a long-term repository. Among his preferred archive images he commented on a very young Harris drinking large glasses of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a blessed life I’ve had – no remorse and no ‘Must Do’s’”.

He was married twice, both marriages ended in divorce.

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