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The photographer B. Harris, who has died 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 photojournalists of his era.

An International Career

He journeyed the world as a independent or a employee for major British titles, 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 Balkan region and across Africa, the consequences of the Falklands war and several US election campaigns. Additionally, he produced lyrical scenic views of the countryside around his 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 kept sharing archive and new images daily on social media up to a short time before his passing, and had been arranging to give a talk on his career and experiences.

Notable Assignments

Stories from a turbulent career included an expenses-shredding premium flight in 1991 to attend the funeral in India of the slain politician Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from heatstroke and pneumonia and was treated 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 sea on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a leading page, and are regularly reproduced as a striking example of photo-opportunity hubris. His 2016 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 Highlights

He was appointed as the a major newspaper’s most youthful staff photographer when he joined the paper in 1976, at the age of 26, and worked 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 considered editing of his strongest images of famine in Africa.

In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was assembled to launch a major newspaper. He played a key role in shaping the style of journalistic photography that the paper became known for, helping raise the bar for press images and newspaper design, in striking images filling front and back pages. Among many awards, he was honoured as the What the Papers Say photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in the former Eastern Bloc documenting the fall of communism.

He operated independently after being let go in 1999, and major projects thereafter included a year spent photographing 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.

Background and Start

Harris was raised in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later assisted him build a darkroom in the garage. In the mid 1950s, the family relocated eastwards – and to a better area – to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended Chase Cross secondary modern school, acquiring useful skills in woodwork and metalwork, before departing at 16.

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

Colleagues and Impact

Other photographers, often outpaced by him, remembered his work as astonishing. A colleague, who collaborated with him in the initial stages, called him “a great and brave photographer”, an inspiration to a generation of junior colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he “reimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapers’ peak era”.

Private World

In 2001 Harris reconnected through a website with Nikki, whom he had initially encountered as a toddler in infant school, and they became inseparable partners through his remaining years. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they embarked on a road trip in Europe, posting bright images of fine dining and good wine, and revisiting significant 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 long-term repository. Among his preferred historical photos he commented on a youthful Harris drinking 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 later union, Nikki’s daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.