Harry Diamond

Photographer

By Fiona Green

Harry Diamond, the photographer's Photographer. I met Harry through Lucian Freud. They were good & loyal friends to me as a country blow-in from Devon.Harry was funny & irrascible,'cos he had had a terrible childhood; leaving home at 13 to find his way in the world.He was encouraged in his work by the photographer, Bruce Bernard, who kept a keen eye out for him.He photographed many famous contemporaries,like his friends Francis Bacon & Lucian Freud,but also had an archive collection of marvellous East End faces too.Nearing the end of Harry's life, I helped ensure that his work went to the National Portrait Gallery.I took this photo in the 1980's at the Serpentine Gallery, at a show of Frank Bowling, another friend & the first black Royal Academician. The portrait of Harry below my photo is by Lucian Freud 

Harry died 3 December 2009 aged 85

www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/.../harry-diamond-obituary - Cached - Similar