A Tribute to Chris
Magnum photographers and estates share memories of their friend and colleague, photographer Chris Steele-Perkins, who passed away on September 8, 2025
“Some photographers, because of their preoccupation with humanity, are closer to me than others,” Bruno Barbey wrote in 2007, for the first edition of the group photobook Magnum Magnum. “Chris Steele-Perkins belongs to those photographers who are interested in the world’s problems and who have participated many times in humanitarian missions across the globe.”
“His remarkable ability to move between modern art and photojournalism has led him to experiment with conceptual photography, creating his own special style in recounting not only the world as he sees but also his exceptional, unique and extremely personal way of being in the world.”
As Magnum mourns the loss of Chris Steele-Perkins, who joined the agency in 1979, several of his colleagues were quick to send in messages and memories of the respected photographer.
“Chris was always one of my favorite people at Magnum: clear-eyed, unpretentious, with a droll sense of humor about the vagaries of life,” writes Alex Webb. “He was also a remarkable photographer, often under-recognized, who quietly and consistently photographed in some of the most difficult and challenging parts of the world. Chris was a dear friend, and Rebecca and I will miss him deeply.”
“This image marks a different growing confidence: my first foreign assignment,” Chris Steele-Perkins once wrote on Instagram of the self-portrait above, from Bangladesh in 1972.
It was a foreign assignment that would launch a career of extensive exploring over the course of his lifetime, taking Steele-Perkins to Africa, Central America, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and eventually Japan.
"He was a shining example of a passionate and prolific documentary photographer and humanitarian whose albums of contact sheets filled shelf after shelf in Magnum's London office."
- Stuart Franklin
Marco Bischof, head of the Werner Bischof Estate, recalls a conversation with Steele-Perkins at his home in 2011, in his own words:
Steele-Perkins: Who am I? As a photographer?
Bischof: Whatever you want to say…
Steele-Perkins: I’m a guy who got lucky, I think, by finding photography; I’m not quite sure what I’d do otherwise. I mean, yeah, you can get by obviously, but I think it was sort of stumbling across photography at university, really, I mean, as a hobby and working for a student newspaper. Then becoming more interested and looking at stuff in magazines and so on and coming across work by people you know, as diverse as Eugene Smith, Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Minor White, and thinking: ‘Wow, you know, photography can do all this stuff!’ And acquainting myself obviously with some of the Magnum photographers, because back in those days you saw a lot of their work in the Sunday Times and in LIFE magazine, it was the sort of heyday almost when you got 20-page spreads and stuff like that. And thinking well, I find that pretty interesting, you know, they’re traveling around the world, going to different places, doing interesting stories, so I could do a bit of that.
Stuart Franklin reflects on his friendship with Steele-Perkins that lasted over 40 years: “Chris was a friend and mentor over many years, beginning in the early ’80s when we’d get together to play squash, then talk about pictures, in south London. He was a shining example of a passionate and prolific documentary photographer and humanitarian whose albums of contact sheets filled shelf after shelf in Magnum’s London office, which he helped set up. He was a great photojournalist whose work captured the spirit of the age, from his landmark book The Teds to his sensitive portraits celebrating ethnic diversity in London.”
“Chris was unassuming, generous, and quietly inspiring,” writes Chien-Chi Chang. “When I joined Magnum in 1995, he was among the first to welcome me. A few years later in London, we had dinner, and his kindness was exactly the same — warm, curious, and caring. During a later Magnum AGM, I stayed at his place. We’d talk late into the night about photography and the meetings, then in the morning I’d watch him tend his garden, watering and trimming in quiet concentration.
“Chris was not only a friend but one of the great storytellers of our craft—his Teds series, his work across Africa and Asia, and the way he photographed Britain with both love and edge. His pictures carry a soul that lingers. When the Brexit result was announced, he was visibly annoyed. On our walk to the AGM he suddenly photographed a box of broken eggs on the sidewalk—his wry, understated “documentary of Brexit.” That was Chris: a sharp eye wrapped in gentleness, always finding the image that said everything.
“It’s hard to accept that he’s gone. I’ll miss his quiet humor, his generosity, and the steady warmth he brought to every room.”
And from Larry Towell: “Chris was a true believer in the Magnum ethic and ethos and spent much of his life fulfilling it as president, board member, and member. He was a dedicated friend, and I will miss him.”
"His powerful photography helped define what photojournalism could be."
- Gregory Halpern
“Chris will be deeply missed, and always remembered,” says Gregory Halpern, on behalf of the Magnum Board. “For 46 years, he was a vital part of Magnum Photos. His powerful photography helped define what photojournalism could be. His dedication to storytelling and generous mentorship shaped countless colleagues and inspired photographers and audiences everywhere.”
Barbey’s contribution to Magnum Magnum quotes Steele-Perkins, saying: “He tells us, ‘I still want to search for new things, to celebrate the world and its people — because, in spite of its horrors and my own personal moments of sorrow, to be a human being still remains something very special.’”
Read more about the life and legacy of Chris Steele-Perkins here.
