Chris Steele-Perkins, Magnum photographer who documented Britain and beyond with care and skill, has died aged 78

""It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of the dear Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins.""

""I was Chris's assistant when he was president of Magnum,""

""An episode that changed my life for the better, Chris was an original and inspirational voice in contemporary photography, with a wide folio of important international work-but some of his British studies were amongst the best of all time.""

Chris Steele-Perkins was a British-Burmese photographer known for chronicling the changing face of Britain with clarity and empathy. Born in Burma in 1947 to a Burmese mother and an English father, he moved to the UK at age two, grew up in County Durham and studied psychology at Newcastle University before discovering photography. He became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1983 as the first person of colour to receive that distinction and served as Magnum president from 1995 to 1998. His breakthrough The Teds (1979) documented the Teddy Boy subculture with dispassionate detail, humour and warmth. He died in Japan aged 78.

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