A world-famous photographer, born in the Isle of Man, has been handed an international photographic accolade.

Chris Killip, who specialises in social documentation and reportage photography, has been honoured by the DGPh, German Photographic Society, and given the Dr Erich Salomon Award in acknowledgement of the outstanding achievements in photography, gained though his 50-year career.

The citation for the award read: ’With this award the society is paying homage to an outstanding photographer as well as to his remarkable work in the tradition of humanist documentary photography.

’Without Killip, a large portion of British culture and the overlooked history of the daily lives of ordinary people would have remained unrecorded.

’Killip’s photographs and series of images are valuable reports and symbols which highlight the social and economic transformation of Britain. In the history of photography they rank alongside the works of the great, indispensable masters and prove to be inspiring models for many other generations of photographers and artists.’

Chris was born in Douglas in 1946 and learnt his trade on the beaches of Douglas before leaving to study and work in the UK.

He returned to produce a famous photographic record of Manx farming life in 1974 and went on to become a highly respected photographer, producing many award-winning books, with the latest, ’The Station’, being released this year. Between 1991 and 2017 he was Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, in the USA.

The Dr. Erich Salomon Award was established in 1971 to honour outstanding use of photography in press and was named after the famous German photojournalist of the Weimar Republic, Dr. Erich Salomon. Chris will receive a prize of a Leica camera with his name engraved on it. Due to the current pandemic the award ceremony will take place online.