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Misan Harriman

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Misan Harriman
Harriman in 2022
Born (1977-12-15) 15 December 1977 (age 48)
Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
OccupationsPhotographer, entrepreneur, Chair of Southbank Centre
Years active2017–present
Known forPhotography
SpouseCamilla Holmstroem
Children2

Misan Harriman (born 15 December 1977)[1] is a Nigerian-born British photographer, entrepreneur and social activist. As well as being one of the most widely-shared photographers of the Black Lives Matter movement, Harriman is the first Black man to shoot a cover of British Vogue. In July 2021, Harriman commenced his appointment as Chair of the board of trustees for Southbank Centre, London.[2] In October 2025, he was named as one of the UK's most influential black people in the 2026 Powerlist.[3]

Early life

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Harriman was born in Calabar, Nigeria, in 1977.[4][5] He is the son of Chief Hope Harriman, a billionaire businessman and politician from Warri in Nigeria's Delta State. Chief Harriman was a titleholder in the Nigerian chieftaincy system and a descendant of King Akengbuwa I, an Olu of Warri in the 18th and 19th centuries.[6][7] His paternal grandfather was Arthur Leonard Harriman (1899 - 1991) from Romford, Essex, United Kingdom. He was the son of John Leonard Harriman and Alice Isabelle Smith. Arthur Leonard, the father of Hope, was transferred from the United Kingdom to Nigeria, as a staff member of John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, to further Britain’s commercial and expansionist interest in the Niger Delta, most especially Warri.

Harriman attended Stubbington House School and Bradfield College in England. After school, he worked in recruitment in the City of London.[8]

Photographic career

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Harriman was interested in photography from an early age, this including giving a presentation at school on Stanley Kubrick's use of light in Barry Lyndon (1975) aged nine. In 2016, Harriman set up an Internet media agency, What We Seee. He began photographing in 2017 and is self-taught.[9][10]

Celebrities

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Harriman's photographic career has included photographing celebrities, including Rihanna, Stormzy, Olivia Colman, Princess Beatrice, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tom Cruise.[5] In early 2021, Harriman remotely took the photograph used to announce the pregnancy of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.[11] In June 2022, Harriman photographed one-year-old Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.[12]

Reportage

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Harriman documented the Extinction Rebellion, climate strike and anti-Trump protests in 2019.[9] In the spring of 2020, he took a series of pictures of people living through the COVID-19 lockdown in his home town of Woking in a project called Lost in Isolation.[13][14] His pictures of the Black Lives Matter protests taken in the summer of 2020 appeared on the BBC and in Vogue magazine and The Guardian, and in July were shown on the Piccadilly Lights at Piccadilly Circus in Central London.[15] Harriman's triple gatefold cover for the September issue of Vogue—traditionally the most important issue of the year[16][17][18][19]—included portraits of Adwoa Aboah, Marcus Rashford and 18 other activists associated with the Black Lives Matter movement from around the globe.[10][20] He was assisted by two photographers, Cornelius Walker and Ron Timehin.[8][21]

Harriman participating in a plea over the Gaza conflict in 2024

In 2024, much of Harriman's documentary work revolved around the protests in London urging for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.[22]

In 2025, Harriman had his first major exhibition at Hope 93 in Fitzrovia, London, featuring his work between 2019 and 2025 on global activism.[23]

Shoot the People, a documentary about Harriman's life as an activist and photographer, was released by Watermelon Pictures in June 2026.[24]

Other activities

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In July 2021, Harriman took up the appointment of chair of trustees of the Southbank Centre.[25][26]

In 2023, he made his directorial debut with The After, a short film about a man who lost his family in a stabbing spree, starring David Oyelowo. The film, produced by Nicky Bentham for Netflix, was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2024 Academy Awards.[27]

Alleged antisemitic comments

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After the Golders Green stabbing attacks in April 2026, Harriman criticised the media for providing lesser coverage of the initial victim, who was Muslim, than it provided to the two later victims, who were wearing Orthodox Jewish clothing. After the 2026 UK local election in May, in which Reform UK performed very well, Harriman quoted Susan Sontag's comments about the Holocaust: "10% of people in any population are cruel no matter what, and 10% are merciful no matter what, and the other – this is important – the other remaining 80% could be moved in either direction. It’s such a profound way to look at us. In the context of yesterday’s election result, it is something which I think is really topical".[citation needed] In June, Harriman commented on mass protests in Albania against the proposed Sazan Island Resort backed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. In a social media post, Harriman shared a link to a post which said Kushner and Ivanka Trump were "selling off the Albanian coastline to Jewish billionaires and [an] Israeli military project".[28]

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said some of Harriman's comments were inflammatory. Following complaints from more than 64 MPs and peers, Lisa Nandy said that the Charity Commission, Arts Council England, and the Southbank Centre were reviewing the matter, with the Arts Council holding the power to suspend or withdraw public funding if grant conditions were found to have been breached.[29][30]

Writing in The Guardian, Lanre Bakare said that part of the British establishment was upset at the positive reception of Harriman's views by the public and that Harriman had received negative coverage in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express and GB News.[31] An open letter petition signed by Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Gary Lineker, Greta Thunberg, Tracey Emin, Benjamin Moser and others said Harriman was the victim of a smear campaign by right-wing newspapers. A separate online pledge of support for Harriman received over 100,000 signatures.[31][32][33]

In June 2026, Harriman announced that he would step down as chair of trustees of the Southbank Centre in autumn 2026. He and the Southbank Centre stated that the decision was made in January and was unrelated to the controversy surrounding his public statements and social media activity.[29][30]

Personal life

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Harriman is married to Camilla Holmstroem. They have two daughters.[8]

References

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  1. ↑ Harriman, Misan [@misanharriman] (15 December 2023). "As I turn 46 today ..." (Tweet). Retrieved 4 February 2024 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  2. ↑ Brown, Mark (20 May 2021). "Black Lives Matter photographer becomes Southbank Centre chair". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Misan Harriman". Powerful Media. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Fleming, Amy (27 January 2021). Tom Cruise fist-bumps a rising star: Misan Harriman's best photograph. The Guardian.
  5. 1 2 Nath, Sayantani (14 February 2021). Who is Misan Harriman? Meet Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's photographer pal who took their pregnancy pic on iPad. MEAWW.
  6. ↑ "Chief Hope Harriman: An Itsekiri Icon". warrikingdom.org. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Amaize, Emma (8 November 2012). "Hope Harriman dies at 79". Vanguard (Nigeria).
  8. 1 2 3 Butter, Susannah (13 August 2020). "Misan Harriman: 'I find myself standing in a moment of history'". The Evening Standard.
  9. 1 2 Warner, Marigold (23 June 2020). "Misan Harriman on photographing London's BLM protests". The British Journal of Photography.
  10. 1 2 Peters, Ellie (3 August 2020). "Meet Misan Harriman, The BLM Protest Photographer Who Captured Vogue's September Cover". British Vogue.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Guy (15 February 2021). Who is Misan Harriman, the confidante who ‘remotely’ photographed the Sussexes’ baby announcement?. The Daily Telegraph.
  12. ↑ "Royals wish Lilibet a happy first birthday". BBC News. 4 June 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  13. ↑ Stanciu, Elena. "Lost in Isolation - Found in Solitude: A Photo Series by Misan Harriman". PetrieInventory.com
  14. ↑ (28 May 2020). "The photographer bringing his community together". BBC News Online
  15. ↑ (7 July 2020). "Piccadilly Lights encourages empathy in the fight to end systemic racism", Ocean News.
  16. ↑ (4 August 2020). "Edward Enninful: Focusing Vogue on activism a 'no-brainer'". BBC News.
  17. ↑ Sandhu, Serena (4 August 2020). "Vogue's September issue with Marcus Rashford and Adwoa Aboah inspired a hope I've never felt before as a reader of 12 years". The i Newspaper.
  18. ↑ Cambell, Niamh (3 August 2018). "Why the September issue of Vogue is always a big deal in the fashion world". Evoke magazine.
  19. ↑ Alexander, Ella (1 August 2016). "Why is the September issue so important to fashion?". Glamour Magazine.
  20. ↑ Ominira-Bluejack, 'Shèun (27 August 2024). "Look To Her, Moor". kalaharireview.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  21. ↑ Warner, Marigold (4 August 2020). “A symphony of activism”: Misan Harriman on his historic Vogue cover. British Journal of Photography.
  22. ↑ McDermott, Kerry (16 August 2024). "From The Climate Crisis To Congo, Misan Harriman Reflects On A Summer Defined By Protests". British Vogue. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  23. ↑ Editorial, BJP. "Misan Harriman highlights protest and resistance, from Palestine to Black civil rights - 1854 Photography". www.1854.photography. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "'Shoot The People:' Misan Harriman Talks Working With Director Andy Mundy-Castle On His Documentary Portrait". Yahoo Life. 6 July 2026. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Press Release: Misan Harriman appointed Chair of Southbank Centre" (PDF). Southbank Centre. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  26. ↑ Campbell, Joel (21 May 2021). "Misan Harriman appointed Chair of Southbank Centre". The Voice. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  27. ↑ Stephanie Simon (24 January 2024). "Short film 'The After' gets nominated for 2024 Oscar Awards". Voice of Nigeria. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  28. ↑ Rayner, Gordon (8 June 2026). "Southbank chief in fresh row over 'anti-Semitic' conspiracy theory". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  29. 1 2 Eastham, Janet; Simpson, Craig (24 June 2026). "Southbank chief in anti-Semitism row to stand down a year early". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 July 2026. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  30. 1 2 Hartog, Kelly (25 June 2026). "Chair of Britain's largest arts center to step down amid antisemitism scrutiny". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  31. 1 2 Bakare, Lanre (7 July 2026). "'I've always used my voice online': the rapid rise of photographer Misan Harriman – and what happened next". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  32. ↑ Bakare, Lanre (13 May 2026). "Greta Thunberg and Gary Lineker sign letter defending Southbank Centre chair". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  33. ↑ "Southbank chief in fresh row over 'anti-Semitic' conspiracy theory". The Telegraph. 8 June 2026. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
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