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The photographer B. Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 of cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to work as a courier, and eventually became among the most esteemed British documentary photographers of his generation.

An International Career

He journeyed the world as a independent or a staffer for Fleet Street publications, documenting such events as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, war zones in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the consequences of the Falklands war and four US presidential campaigns. He also created poetic scenic views of the rural areas around his home county of Essex home.

By his own calculation he shot over two million photographs, averaging 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He kept sharing archive and new images each day on online platforms until a short time before his death, and had been planning to deliver a lecture on his career and experiences.

Notable Assignments

Stories from a turbulent career featured an costly business class flight in 1991 to reach the funeral in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he fainted from sunstroke and pneumonia and was cooled down with ice that had been used to preserve the body.

His 1983 images of the then Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, falling into the tide on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a leading page, and are regularly reproduced as a striking 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 Milestones

He was appointed as the Times’ youngest ever staff photographer when he joined the paper in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for nearly a decade, including coverage of the end of the civil war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he considered censorship 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 broadsheet design, in dramatic images filling multiple pages. Among many awards, he was named the industry-recognised photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe documenting the collapse of communism.

He operated independently after being let go in 1999, and significant projects thereafter 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 personal tour to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh – and a moving book, Remembered.

Early Life and Beginnings

Harris was born in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later assisted him build a darkroom in the garage. In the 1950s, the family relocated farther east – and to a better area – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended Chase Cross secondary modern school, learning practical skills in woodwork and metal crafting, before departing at 16.

At a central London photo agency, he rose rapidly from messenger boy to photographer, and launched his working life at eastern London local papers before progressing to national publications.

Peers and Impact

Other photographers, often scooped 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 influence to a generation of junior 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 first met as a toddler in infant school, and they became close companions through his final decades. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they embarked on a road trip in Europe, sharing bright images of fine dining and quality drinks, and revisiting important sites including Dresden and Ypres.

His last task, completed a few weeks before his demise, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his favourite archive images he commented on a very young Harris consuming generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: “What a blessed life I’ve had – no regrets 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.