Misan Harriman, Harry and Meghan’s pregnancy photographer, rose to fame by capturing the Black Lives Matter protests

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Freed from the formalities associated with a traditional royal baby announcement, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, turned to a friend to reveal their news on Sunday.

The result was a subdued black-and-white portrait of the couple as they stared into each other’s eyes under a wintry sun, Meghan’s hand resting gently on a bump hidden from the public until now.

But for the photographer who took the photo, the announcement of the Sussex’s second child was just the latest milestone in a history career.

Misan Harriman, a friend of the couple, said he took the photo remotely on an iPad. Harriman is based in London, while the Sussexes live in California after their divorce from the British Royal Family last year.

Harriman's image was released on Sunday.

Harriman’s image was released on Sunday. Credit: Twitter / @ misanharriman

“Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness the beginning of this love story, and my friend, I feel honored to capture it,” he wrote on social media after the photo’s release. “Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on this joyful news!”

Last year, Harriman became the first black photographer to cover the all-important September issue of British Vogue.

That spread was marked by footballer Marcus Rashford, model Adwoa Aboah and a number of other prominent campaigners, with the headline “Activism Now: The Faces of Hope.”

It was a fitting assignment for Harriman, who only became a professional photographer in 2016 after a career in finance and whose images of the Black Lives Matter protests made him famous in 2020.

“I saw the beating heart of London through my lens,” Harriman told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in August, after a number of photos he took during protests in the city went viral.

One, featuring England’s youth hockey player Darcy Bourne, outside the US embassy, ​​holding a sign that read “Why is ending racism a debate?” Symbolized the city’s demonstrations over the summer.

Misan Harriman: ‘My images are about hope’

“It feels like the winds of change are finally blowing in the direction I’ve been waiting for,” Harriman told CNN.

Both Harry and Meghan have spoken in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Harry has reflected on his own unconscious bias as well as the British Empire’s historic actions to subjugate black populations around the world.
“I have had an awakening myself because I was not aware of so many of the problems and so many of the problems in the UK, but also worldwide,” he said in October. “I thought so, but I didn’t.”

The couple’s photo wasn’t the first time Harriman had been called to present a royal announcement to the world.

In 2019, he captured Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, again in black and white, to accompany the announcement of their engagement.
“You can’t be nervous when the subjects feel so comfortable,” Harriman told Vogue of the experience. “I call my lens the truth seeker, and that’s exactly what was recorded, two people who have found their safe haven in each other.”
And his photo of Harry and Meghan also recalled – intentionally or otherwise – an official photo from their 2018 wedding, taken by Alexi Lubomirski. That image also shows the couple lying in an embrace moments after they got married.

The couple’s announcement didn’t mention an expiration date, but Harriman’s image showed a prominent bump.

“We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother,” a spokesman for the couple said on Sunday. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are over the moon to be expecting their second child.”

The announcement came almost exactly 37 years after Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced they were expecting their second child – who happened to be Prince Harry.

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