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The photographer B. Harris, who passed away aged 73 from cancer, ended his schooling 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 the world as a independent or a employee for major British publications, documenting such events as the fall of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkans and across Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands war and several US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic landscapes of the rural areas around his Essex home.

According to his estimates he took over two million photographs, taking an average of 100 a day, but he made that count several years ago. He continued posting archive and new images each day on online platforms until a short time before his death, and had been planning to give a talk on his career and experiences.

Notable Assignments

Stories from a rollercoaster career featured an costly business class flight in 1991 to attend the burial in India of the assassinated leader Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from sunstroke and pneumonia and was cooled down 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, toppling into the sea 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’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.

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 almost ten years, including coverage of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he considered editing of his strongest images of famine in Africa.

In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was put together to create a major newspaper. He was instrumental in shaping the style of journalistic photography that the paper was famous for, helping raise the bar for press images and newspaper design, in striking images covering front and back 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 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 war memorial organisation, which led to an exhibition launched in London – where he gave a personal tour to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a emotional book, Remembered.

Early Life and Beginnings

Harris was raised in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later assisted him construct a darkroom in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family moved farther east – and up in the world – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to Chase Cross secondary modern school, acquiring practical skills in woodwork and metal crafting, before departing at 16.

At a Fleet Street photo agency, he quickly advanced from messenger boy to photographer, and launched his working life at eastern London local papers before moving on to major publications.

Colleagues and Legacy

Other photographers, often scooped by him, remembered his work as remarkable. Nick Turpin, who worked with him in the early days, called him “a great and fearless photographer”, an inspiration to a generation of young colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he “transformed the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ peak era”.

Personal Life

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a online service with Nikki, whom he had first met as a three-year-old in primary school, and they became close companions through his final decades. After learning of his illness, they embarked on a driving tour in Europe, posting bright images of fine dining and quality drinks, and returning to significant sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, completed a short time before his demise, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a long-term repository. Among his favourite archive images he reflected on a very young Harris drinking generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a blessed life I’ve had – no remorse and no ‘Must Do’s’”.

He was wed twice, both marriages ended in divorce.

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