Fine Art Photography
Series
Don McCullin
War Photographer Noted for Coverage of Vietnam
and Cambodia.
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Fine Art Photography
Series
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Don McCullin (b.1935)Contents • Don McCullin's
Photography For more about the early inventions upon which McCullin's lens-based art is founded, see: History of Photography (c.1800-1900). |
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Don McCullin
GLOSSARY CAMERA ARTISTS |
Best known as one of the greatest photographers of the Vietnam war, Donald McCullin is a British photojournalist, noted for his fine art photography of the human condition, depicting those caught up in conflict, or simply downtrodden because of their poverty. His consistent contribution to contemporary art during his 55-year career, has been to expose the underside of society in countries around the world, and bear witness to the unacceptable. In so doing he has produced some harrowing portrait art - including "Shellshocked US Marine, Hue, Vietnam" (1968) and "Albino Boy, Biafra" (1969) - as well as numerous compelling photo-essays, such as "Vietnam: Old Glory, Young Blood" which appeared on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine in March 1968. In bearing witness, McCullin has produced outstanding photographs of all the great conflicts of the day, since 1945: including Cyprus, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, the Belgian Congo, Biafra, El Salvador and Northern Ireland. His photos have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, notably The Sunday Times (London). Amazingly, unlike his older colleague Larry Burrows (1926-1971), McCullin survived these wars, despite having his favourite Nikon F camera plugged by a sniper's bullet in Cambodia (1970), just as he put his eye to the lens. Later in his career, McCullin focused on documentary photography of various kinds. For other outstanding photojournalists and war photographers, see: Robert Capa (1913-54), James Nachtwey (b.1948) and Steve McCurry (b.1950). For a brief guide to the aesthetics and artistic nature of lens-based art, please see: Is Photography Art?
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Important Picture:
Shellshocked US Marine, Hue, Vietnam (1968) Born in Finsbury Park, North London to a severely asthmatic father, the dyslexic McCullin found schoolwork difficult, but excelled at painting and drawing, winning a scholarship to the Hammersmith School of Arts and Crafts. However, he left school after the death of his father in 1950, without qualifications. After various menial jobs, he trained in photography while doing his National Service in the RAF. Returning home in 1956 he worked as a darkroom assistant before getting his first big break, when his photos of a local Finsbury Park gang ("The Guv'nors of Seven Sisters Road") - one of whom had committed a murder - appeared in The Observer newspaper in 1958. In 1960, he paid his own fare to Berlin and took photos of the building of the Berlin Wall - photos that brought him instant international recognition and won him a British Press award. As a result, in 1961, McCullin was offered a job as a photographer for The Observer newspaper, during which he produced a number of photo-essays on social issues involving subjects like steelworkers in Hartlepool. In 1964 he started work as a staff photographer for The Sunday Times Magazine and received numerous overseas assignments. These included covering the Cyprus Civil War (1964) - work which won him a World Press award - after which he went into the Congo disguised as a mercenary, and then in 1965 Vietnam - the first of fifteen visits. During this early period, McCullin has since confessed to being influenced by the pictorialism of Henry Peach Robinson (1830-1901), as well as the compositional skills of the architectural photographer Frederick Evans (1853-1943) and the American pioneer Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946). This helps to explain some of McCullin's trademarks, like the way he frames his subjects, the way the light broods in his photos, and the way he catches people off guard. McCullin continued working for the The Sunday Times, a publication which was then at the forefront of investigative journalism. His assignments included Biafra (1969), the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' (1971), Bangladesh (1971), Uganda (mid-70s), the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (1979), the civil war in Lebanon (1982), and the insugency in El Salvador (1980s). But his best-known work is his photos of Vietnam and Cambodia. In 1984, McCullin left The Sunday Times and went freelance. After 20 years of involvement in his unique brand of violent street photography, he opted to devote most of his time to still life and landscape photography, while continuing to demonstrate his skills as one of the best portrait artists with a camera. Over the years McCullin has written a number of books, including: The Destruction Business (1971); Homecoming (1979); The Palestinians (together with Jonathan Dimbleby, 1980); Hearts of Darkness (1980); Beirut: A City in Crisis (1983); Sleeping with Ghosts: A Life's Work in Photography (1984); Skullduggery (1987); Open Skies (1989); Unreasonable Behaviour: An Autobiography (1992); Don McCullin in Africa (2005); and Shaped by War (2010). His latest book is Southern Frontiers: A Journey Across the Roman Empire, a study of Roman ruins in North Africa and the Middle East. 1971 London (Kodak Gallery)
McCullin has been the recipient of numerous prizes. Here is a short selected list of his major awards. 1964: World Press Photo Award, for coverage
of the war in Cyprus. Great Documentary Photographers For other famous lens-based artists noted for their documentary-style photography, please see the following forthcoming articles. • Eugene
Atget (1857-1927) |
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• For more about documentary war photography, see: Homepage.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ART |
