# Ian Parry > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ian_Parry > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ian_Parry.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Parry > Source revision: 1326834802 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **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](/source/The_Mail_on_Sunday)*, *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* and *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)*. He was killed at the age of 24 in an aircraft crash in [Romania](/source/Romania) during the [overthrow of Communism](/source/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989). 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](/source/Prestatyn) in north [Wales](/source/Wales). 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](/source/Pontin's) 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".[1] ## Professional life After studying at the [National Council for the Training of Journalists](/source/National_Council_for_the_Training_of_Journalists) at [Sheffield College](/source/Sheffield_College),[2] at the age of 21 Parry joined the national newspaper *Mail on Sunday*. He later worked for both *The Times* and *The Sunday Times*.[3] 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](/source/Peter_Sutcliffe)).[4] During the [1989 Conservative leadership election](/source/1989_Conservative_Party_leadership_election), Parry followed the challenger [Sir Anthony Meyer](/source/Sir_Anthony_Meyer,_3rd_Baronet) (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".[5] ## Death When an uprising against the government of [Nicolae Ceaușescu](/source/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu) broke out in [Romania](/source/Romania) in December 1989, Parry was working for *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)* and argued that he should be sent on assignment to cover events there.[6] He spent several days in [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest) 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.[1] On 28 December he was returning to Britain and managed to find a place on an [Antonov An-24](/source/Antonov_An-24) airliner operated by [TAROM](/source/TAROM) that was travelling out of Bucharest to [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade) to pick up relief supplies. He took with him the undeveloped film from other photographers. The aircraft crashed near [Găești](/source/G%C4%83e%C8%99ti), 43 miles west of Bucharest, killing all on board.[6] An inquest in November 1990 returned an initial verdict of accidental death.[7] 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.[8] A memorial service for Parry was held at [St Bride's Church](/source/St_Bride's_Church) in [Fleet Street](/source/Fleet_Street) on 30 January 1990.[3] 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](/source/Press_Association) 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".[9] ## 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.[10] 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.[11] ## References 1. Margarette Driscoll, "Newsman's memorial: his pictures", *Sunday Times*, 31 December 1989. 1. ["About Ian Parry"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110918053445/http://www.ianparry.org/main/?page_id=12). Ian Parry Scholarship Fund. Archived from [the original](http://www.ianparry.org/main/?page_id=12) on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011. 1. "Mr Ian Parry: Memorial service", *The Times*, 31 January 1990. 1. Robin Young, "Ripper's wife loses libel case and faces costs of £300,000", *The Times*, 22 December 1990. 1. "Ian Parry", *The Times*, 30 December 1989. 1. Geoff King, "Photographer dies in plane crash", *The Times*, 29 December 1989. 1. "Parry inquest", *The Sunday Times*, 18 November 1990. 1. ["The Ian Parry Scholarship"](https://web.archive.org/web/20221228184220/http://www.ianparry.org/about-ian-parry/). Archived from [the original](http://www.ianparry.org/about-ian-parry/) on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2017. 1. Margarette Driscoll, "Parry photograph wins press award", *The Sunday Times*, 4 February 1990. 1. ["The Scholarship"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110707164231/http://www.ianparry.org/main/?page_id=2). Ian Parry Scholarship Fund. Archived from [the original](http://www.ianparry.org/main/?page_id=2) on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011. 1. "Ian Parry photography award", *The Sunday Times*, 9 September 1990. ## External links - [The Ian Parry Scholarship Fund](http://www.ianparry.org/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ian Parry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Parry) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Parry?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.