đ Share this article Brian Harris Obituary: An Existence Through the Camera The photographer Brian Harris, who has died 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 British photojournalists of his era. An International Career He journeyed across the globe as a freelance or a staffer for major British publications, documenting major happenings including the collapse of the Berlin Wall, drought and hunger in Ethiopia and Sudan, the conflict in Northern Ireland, battlefields in the Balkans and across Africa, the consequences of the Falklands war and four US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced lyrical landscapes of the rural areas around his Essex home. According to his estimates he shot more than two million images, taking an average of 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He kept sharing archive and recent images each day on online platforms until a few weeks before his death, and had been planning to deliver a lecture on his life and work. Memorable Assignments Stories from a rollercoaster career featured an expenses-shredding premium flight in 1991 to reach the burial in India of the assassinated leader Rajiv Gandhi, where he collapsed from heatstroke and pneumonia and was treated with ice that had been employed to cool the body. His 1983âs 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 front page, and are often reprinted as a striking example of photo-opportunity hubris. His 2016 memoir, ... And Then the Prime Minister Hit Me, took the title from an exasperated John Major striking him with a rolled-up briefing paper. Professional Highlights He became the a major newspaperâs youngest ever staff photographer when he joined the paper in 1976, at the age of 26, and was based around the world for almost ten years, including reporting of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He later stepped down over what he saw as censorship of his strongest images of famine in Africa. In 1986 Harris was made head photographer as the team was assembled to launch a new newspaper. He was instrumental in shaping the style of editorial photography that the paper was famous for, helping raise the bar for news photography and broadsheet 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 eastern Europe recording the fall of communism. He operated independently after being let go in 1999, and significant projects after that 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 â where he gave a private viewing to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh â and a emotional book, Remembered. Early Life and Start Harris was raised in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an technician who later assisted him build a photo lab in the garage. In the 1950s, the family relocated eastwards â and to a better area â to the Rise Park housing estate in Romford, Essex. Brian attended a local secondary modern school, learning useful skills in woodwork and metalwork, before departing at 16. At a Fleet Street photo agency, he rose rapidly from delivery boy to photographer, and began his working life at eastern London local papers before moving on to major publications. Peers and Legacy Other photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as remarkable. Nick Turpin, who worked with him in the early days, called him âa superb and brave photographerâ, an influence to a generation of junior colleagues. Another associate, a union representative, said he âreimagined the possibilities of news photography during newspapersâ peak eraâ. 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 inseparable partners through his final decades. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they embarked on a driving tour in Europe, sharing sunny images of fine dining and good wine, and returning to important sites including Dresden and Ypres. His final project, completed a short time before his death, was to transfer his vast archive of 55 yearsâ work to a long-term repository. Among his preferred historical photos he reflected on a very young Harris drinking generous servings of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: âWhat a blessed life Iâve had â no regrets and no âMust Doâsââ. He was married twice, each union concluded with divorce. He is remembered by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his second marriage, Nikkiâs daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.