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Ian Parry (12 April 1965 – 28 December 1989) was a British photographer and photojournalist who worked as a freelance and on assignment for newspapers including ''
The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...
'', ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
''. He was killed at the age of 24 in an aircraft crash in
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
during the overthrow of Communism. In his honour a scholarship fund was set up to encourage and help young photographers.


Early life

Parry was the youngest of four children, and was born and brought up in
Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...
in north
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. He attended Penmorfa County Primary and Prestatyn High Schools, and his interest in photography began while he was very young: by the age of 13 he had learned to develop and print his own film using a darkroom set up by his uncle. He took photographs of people staying at the nearby
Pontin's Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It was acquired by Britannia Hotels in 2011. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment at r ...
holiday camp during the summer holidays while still at school. Parry left school at the age of 16 and was taken on by the local newspaper ''Rhyl Journal'' as a trainee photographer; the editor Brian Barratt later praised his "nose for a good news picture".Margarette Driscoll, "Newsman's memorial: his pictures", ''Sunday Times'', 31 December 1989.


Professional life

After studying at the
National Council for the Training of Journalists The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) was founded in 1951 as organisation to oversee the training of journalists for the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and is now playing a role in the wider media. It is a self-ap ...
at
Sheffield College The Sheffield College is a large general further education college in Sheffield, England. The college has six campuses across the city and has 13,500 students enrolled (including 2,501 apprentices) as of 2021. It provides academic, technical an ...
, at the age of 21 Parry joined the national newspaper ''Mail on Sunday''. He later worked for both ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''."Mr Ian Parry: Memorial service", ''The Times'', 31 January 1990. He worked with the Chief Reporter of ''Mail on Sunday'', Barbara Jones, on a front-page story about the personal life of Sonia Sutcliffe (wife of murderer
Peter Sutcliffe Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020), also known as Peter Coonan, was an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was du ...
). During the 1989 Conservative leadership election, Parry followed the challenger Sir Anthony Meyer (his local MP) throughout his challenge, photographing him throughout each day; Meyer was impressed with Parry's ability to get access to events and regarded him as "a constant and welcome companion".


Death

When an uprising against the government of
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
broke out in
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
in December 1989, Parry was working for ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' and argued that he should be sent on assignment to cover events there.Geoff King, "Photographer dies in plane crash", ''The Times'', 29 December 1989. He spent several days in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
taking pictures of the city recovering after Ceaușescu was overthrown, photographing soldiers with flowers in their arms, as well as funerals for people killed in the revolution. On 28 December he was returning to Britain and managed to find a place on an
Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by the Kyiv ...
airliner operated by
TAROM TAROM (; legally ''Compania Națională de Transporturi Aeriene Române TAROM S.A.'') is the flag carrier and oldest currently operating airline of Romania, based in Otopeni near Bucharest. Its headquarters and its main hub are at Henri Coand� ...
that was travelling out of Bucharest to
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
to pick up relief supplies. He took with him the undeveloped film from other photographers. The aircraft crashed near
Găești Găești () is a town in Dâmbovița County, Muntenia, Romania with a population of 12,583 as of 2021. History The name of the town comes from a family of nobles (boyars) who owned most of the lands on which the town is now situated. Their nam ...
, 43 miles west of Bucharest, killing all on board. An inquest in November 1990 returned an initial verdict of accidental death. Although to this day the investigation has not been officially closed, the most plausible explanation is that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. A memorial service for Parry was held at
St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a Church of England church in Fleet Street in the City of London. Likely dedicated to Bridget of Kildare, Saint Bridget perhaps as early as the 6th century, the building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christo ...
in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
on 30 January 1990. A photograph by Parry of the funeral of a young Romanian killed in the revolution won the Nikon Press Photograph of the Month for January 1990; the picture editor of the
Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and ...
selected it as the winner because "it summed up better than anything the whole story of Romania and the terrible legacy of sadness inflicted on ordinary Romanians by the Ceaușescus".


Scholarship

After Parry's death, the Picture Editor of ''The Sunday Times'' Aidan Sullivan worked with Parry's family and friends and set up the Ian Parry Scholarship Fund. The fund announced in September 1990 that it would offer photographers aged up to 24 funding of £1,000 plus a further £1,000 for equipment to cover a foreign assignment of their choice."Ian Parry photography award", ''The Sunday Times'', 9 September 1990.


References


External links


The Ian Parry Scholarship Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Ian 1965 births 1989 deaths British photojournalists War photographers killed while covering military conflicts People from Prestatyn Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Romania Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1989 People of the Romanian revolution Welsh photographers