Misan Harriman
Misan Harriman didn\u2019t become a photographer till five years ago, when his wife gave him a camera for his fortieth birthday. Since then he\u2019s become world-famous, photographing celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Cate Blanchett, and Meghan Markle \u2013 his was the romantic black-and-white photograph of Harry and Meghan announcing her pregnancy last year. Alongside these high-profile celebrity commissions, he\u2019s also become a photographer known for documenting Extinction Rebellion, anti-Trump protests, and the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020 he became the first black person in the 104-year history of British Vogue to shoot the cover of its prestigious September issue; last year he became the Chair of the Southbank Centre, the renowned arts complex in London.
In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Misan talks about his journey to become a photographer, from early childhood in Nigeria to his time at an English boarding school. He reveals his \u201csuperpower\u201d of dyslexia, and how he\u2019s found a new way of shooting portraits in lockdown: \u201cremote photography\u201d.
Misan Harriman is a passionate film buff, and all his music choices come from movies that have made a profound impression on him, from the soundtrack to \u201cGhost\u201d which he saw as a boy, to William Walton\u2019s score for \u201cHenry V\u201d and the moving Dunkirk scene in \u201cAtonement\u201d.
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3\nProduced by Elizabeth Burke