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The photojournalist B. Harris, who passed away at the age of 73 of cancer, ended his schooling at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become among the most esteemed UK photojournalists of his generation.

An International Career

He travelled the world as a freelance or a staffer for major British titles, documenting such events as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkan region and throughout Africa, the consequences of the Falklands conflict and several US presidential campaigns. He also created lyrical landscapes of the countryside around his Essex home.

According to his estimates he shot more than two million photographs, averaging 100 a day, but he stated that figure some years back. He continued posting archive and new images each day on online platforms up to a short time before his death, and had been planning to give a talk on his career and experiences.

Notable Assignments

Stories from a turbulent 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 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 sea on Brighton beach were published across eight 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, took the title from an exasperated John Major striking him with a folded briefing paper.

Career Milestones

He became the a major newspaper’s most youthful staff photographer when he started there in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for nearly a decade, including reporting of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he saw as 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 new newspaper. He was instrumental in forming 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 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 documenting the fall of communism.

He worked as a freelance after being let go in 1999, and major projects thereafter included a year spent capturing 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 born in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later helped his son build a darkroom in the garage. In the 1950s, the family moved eastwards – and to a better area – to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to a local secondary modern school, learning practical skills in woodwork and metal crafting, before leaving at 16.

At a Fleet Street agency, he quickly advanced from delivery boy to photographer, and launched his working life at east London local papers before progressing to major publications.

Colleagues and Legacy

Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as remarkable. Nick Turpin, who worked with him in the early days, described him as “a superb and fearless photographer”, an inspiration to a cohort of young colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ last golden age”.

Personal Life

In 2001 Harris made contact through a online service with Nikki Bertroya, whom he had initially encountered as a toddler in infant 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 good wine, and revisiting significant sites including Dresden and Ypres.

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

He was wed twice, both marriages concluded with divorce.

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