Daily News without a photo chief

Daily News photo chief Alex Hitchen finished his last day at the embattled tabloid on Thursday without a replacement to succeed him.

That’s a surprise for the Mort Zuckerman-owned paper that once billed itself as “New York’s Picture Newspaper.”

But the rumor is that the job will be handed to Adrian Lam, who is the online photo editor.

When reached on Thursday, Lam said he didn’t know if he had the job. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “I have nothing for you.”

If he does get it, he will be faced with the daunting task of rebuilding a photo desk demoralized by the July 2014 bloodbath of five photographers, including David Handschuh, who nearly died covering the 9/11 attacks for the paper. The overall photo staff absorbed nine of the 20 layoffs at that time.

The cost-cutting apparently did not solve the paper’s woes. Zuckerman put the paper up for sale in February, surprising many — including Editor-in-Chief Colin Myler, who had left for an overseas vacation but had to hurry home when the announcement was made. The paper was said to be losing more than $20 million a year on revenues of about $175 million.

Hitchen earlier confirmed he will become news editor at Bauer Publishing, home of celebrity glossies including In Touch and Life&Style, where he rejoins his former National Enquirer colleague David Perel, who was made editorial director.