đ Share this article Esteemed Photographer Brian Harris Life Story: A Life Behind the Lens The photojournalist Brian Harris, who has died aged 73 of cancer, left school at 16 to work as a courier, and went on to become among the most esteemed UK documentary photographers of his generation. An International Professional Journey He travelled across the globe as a independent 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, war zones in the Balkan region and across Africa, the aftermath of the Falklands conflict and four US presidential campaigns. Additionally, he produced poetic landscapes of the countryside around his home county of Essex home. By his own calculation he shot over two million photographs, taking an average of 100 a day, but he stated that figure several years ago. He continued posting archive and new images daily on online platforms until a short time before his death, and had been arranging to deliver a lecture on his life and work. Notable Projects Tales from a turbulent career included 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 treated with ice that had been used to preserve the body. His 1983âs images of the at that time Labour party leader Neil Kinnock with his wife, Glenys, toppling into the tide on Brighton beach were published across multiple columns of a front 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 exasperated John Major hitting him with a folded 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 coverage of the end of the internal conflict in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He eventually resigned over what he considered editing of his strongest images of famine in Africa. In 1986 Harris became chief 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 became known for, helping raise the bar for press images and broadsheet design, in striking images covering multiple pages. Among many awards, he was honoured as the What the Papers Say photographer of the year in 1990 for his work in eastern Europe documenting the fall of communism. He worked as a freelance 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 exhibition 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 Beginnings Harris was raised in eastern London, to Dorothy and Leonard Harris, an electrician who later helped his son construct a photo lab in the garage. In the 1950s, the family moved farther east â and to a better area â to the Rise Park estate in Romford, Essex. Brian went to a local secondary modern school, acquiring useful skills in carpentry and metal crafting, before departing at 16. At a central London agency, he rose rapidly from messenger boy to photographer, and launched his professional career at east London local papers before progressing to national publications. Peers and Legacy Fellow photographers, often scooped by him, recalled his work as astonishing. A colleague, who worked with him in the early days, called him âa superb and brave photographerâ, an inspiration to a generation of young colleagues. Another associate, a freelance organiser, said he âtransformed the possibilities of news photography during newspapersâ last golden ageâ. Private World In 2001 Harris reconnected through a online service with Nikki Bertroya, whom he had first met as a toddler in infant school, and they became inseparable partners through his remaining years. After receiving his terminal diagnosis, they embarked on a driving tour in Europe, posting sunny images of good meals and quality drinks, and returning to significant sites including Dresden and Ypres. His final project, completed a few weeks before his death, was to transfer his extensive collection of five decades of work to a permanent home. Among his preferred archive images he commented on a very young Harris consuming large glasses of wine with the actor Helen Mirren: âWhat a fortunate life Iâve had â no remorse and no âMust Doâsââ. He was married twice, both marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by Nikki, his son Jacob, from his later union, Nikkiâs daughter, Holly, and by his sister, Jan.