Andrew Parsons (photographer)

Andrew Parsons is a British professional photographer who has worked with the Conservative Party and, as a civil servant, in close liaison with the four of the five most recent Prime Ministers: David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss.

Andrew Parsons
BornSeptember 1974 Edit this on Wikidata (age 49)
OccupationPhotographer Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttps://andrewparsonsphotos.co.uk/ Edit this on Wikidata
Johnson, wearing a facemask and surgical glove, examines a vial of vaccine
Parsons' photograph of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson visiting the Stowe medical clinic in West London, during the Covid-19 pandemic

Career
in an outdoor setting, the Queen and Biden are laughing
Parsons' photograph of Queen Elizabeth II talking to Jill Biden at the 2021 G7 Summit in Cornwall

After working at the Cambridge Evening News[1] and The Times , Parsons became a Press Association (PA) photographer in 2001. During 2007 he was embedded with the 1st Battalion, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on behalf of the PA.[2] He also covered conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and Bosnia.[1]

He was employed as an official photographer by the Conservative Party during the 2010 election campaign,[3] for which his company Parsons Media received payments totalling £45,525.25.[4][5] He was subsequently given a civil service role by David Cameron,[3] but was released from that role after criticism, and was paid instead by the Conservative Party.[3][6][7] His role continued under Theresa May.[3]

He worked for Boris Johnson during the latter's tenure as Mayor of London, but was not employed by the Greater London Authority to do so.[3] He also took photographs for Johnson at family events.[3] As Prime Minister, Johnson reappointed Parsons to the civil service as a part-time special advisor, a political appointment, on a salary equivalent to £100,000 full time.[5][6][7]

Images by Parsons of illegal parties at 10 Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdown were reported as being instrumental in Sue Gray's report[8][9] and police investigations[10][9] into the incidents, and have been required to be produced as evidence to the Commons Select Committee of Privileges as part of their inquiry into Boris Johnson dealings with the committee.[11]

Many of Parsons' images taken in his role as a civil servant are available under the Open Government Licence.

He is co-founder of the photo agency i-Images,[12] which he established in 2011 with Stephen Lock.[13]

Spaceport Cornwall image
four men stand in front of a small space rocket, positioned horizontally, inside a hangar
Parsons' photograph of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Transport Secretary Grant Shapps visiting Spaceport Cornwall ahead of the 2021 G7 Summit

On 10 January 2022 one of Parsons' photographs made news in its own right, when Grant Shapps tweeted a version from which Boris Johnson had been erased.[14] The image was taken when Johnson and Shapps visited Spaceport Cornwall ahead of the 2021 G7 Summit in June of that year, and was used by Shapps following the failure of Virgin Orbit's first attempt to send a LauncherOne rocket into orbit from Cornwall.[14] Shapps deleted his tweet within hours, saying through an unnamed source that he had been unaware that the image had been doctored.[14]

Exhibitions

In 2016 the Leica Gallery in London hosted an exhibition of work by Parsons, taken in Nepal and South Sudan, and Ben Stevens, in Mali, carried out in conjunction with the charity Action Against Hunger.[1][15]

Awards

Parsons won gold in the 2008 PX3 Prix De La Photographie category "Photojournalism/War" for his photograph "Ambushed", depicting the aftermath of a 2007 ambush by the Taliban in Afghanistan.[16] The UK Picture Editors Guild awarded him "Royal Photographer of the Year" in 2014.[17]

Personal life

As of August 2022, Parsons was dating Rhiannon Mills, who is royal correspondent for Sky News.[18] The couple were guests at the wedding celebration of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds.[18]

References
  1. Care, Adam (7 November 2016). "Former News photographer puts global hunger in the picture at major exhibition". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  2. "PA snapper in line of fire to record soldier shooting". Press Gazette. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. Marsh, Sarah (10 July 2018). "The photographer who captures the life and times of Boris Johnson". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. "David Cameron's election photographer Andrew Parsons given an official role". The Guardian. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  5. Murphy, Simon (17 October 2020). "Cabinet Office to hire photographer in effort to level up government's image". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  6. Smyth, Chris; Moore, Matthew. "Boris Johnson appoints his photographer Andrew Parsons as special adviser". The Times. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  7. Rentoul, John (31 January 2021). "Editor's letter: The taxpayer shouldn't fund the prime minister's photographer". The Independent. Retrieved 12 January 2023. there was such a fuss about the prime minister employing a "vanity photographer" at public expense that he was taken off the payroll and his salary was met by the Conservative Party.
  8. Elgot, Jessica (20 April 2022). "Why pictures of Downing Street parties could be smoking gun". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  9. Bloom, Dan (13 April 2022). "Inside Boris Johnson's illegal birthday bash where he was photographed with beer". Mirror. Retrieved 12 January 2023. The PM's £100,000-a-year taxpayer-funded vanity photographer Andrew Parsons took a photo of him holding an Estrella beer, apparently in a toast, and he left within 10 minutes That photo may have been the undoing of Boris Johnson. As the Mirror revealed, it ended up in the hands of Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray – so, in turn, the Met Police.
  10. Crerar, Pippa (4 February 2022). "Bombshell pic shows Boris Johnson holding beer at lockdown birthday party". Mirror. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  11. "Privileges Committee progress inquiry as they call for documents from Mr Johnson and No 10". UK Parliament. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  12. Tobitt, Charlotte (6 February 2020). "Picture editors write to Number 10 after press photographers 'excluded' from historic Brexit moments with PM". Press Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  13. "About". i-Images. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  14. Grierson, Jamie (10 January 2023). "Spot the difference: Boris Johnson appears scrubbed from photo posted by Shapps". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  15. "New exhibition by Leica Ambassador Andrew Parsons and Ben Stevens with global charity Action Against Hunger". Leica Rumors. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  16. "PX3 2008 Winner – Ambushed". PX3. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  17. "Winners Announced: The UK Picture Editors' Guild Awards 2014". Genesis Imaging. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  18. Rayner, Gordon (6 August 2022). "Inside Boris and Carrie Johnson's secret wedding party". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
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