Me and my fiancé purchased tickets for the "Photographic Conflict" talk that Don McCullin was leading, talking about his experiences and work that he had produced. He is such an inspirational speaker, and I came away knowing so much more about the perils and dangers of war photography, and how they damaged his personal life, and photographic work.
(apologies for the awful iPhone quality images!)
The most iconic image that I am aware of is of this man, captured in Vietnam, 1968. Upon McCullin talking about the image, it was made clear that this solider was shell shocked, and awaiting transportation away from the battle zone. McCullin captured many upsetting and eye-opening images of shell-shocked soldiers during many wars, but this is the most iconic.
McCullin also discussed his time spent in Biafra during 1969, whereby he captured many children who were being harassed, discriminated or even killed because of the colour of their skin. Some children were born albino, which meant their skin was a lot lighter than the other children. Some neighbourhood regarded this as a sign of the Devil, so killed the children as soon as they were born, without the consent of the family or mother.
War has it's dangers, and McCullin spoke about how he is lucky to be alive to this day, after several life endangering experiences. His cameras were damaged by bullets and bombs on a regular basis, and he received threats of violence or death off people whom did not want him talking photographs. One of his iconic photographs in the Lebanon, 1976, showed soldiers standing over the body of young girl, and McCullin captured this despite being told to leave the area and not take any photographs, or he would be shot and killed.
Before attending this talk, I read a recent interview for a few years ago on FT.com, whereby he spoke about his photographic career and how he decided it was the end of war photography for him.
Roused by the idea of one last assignment, McCullin set off for Aleppo in Syria last December, nine years after he had announced his retirement from war reporting. “It was like I’d chosen a cloth to make a suit from,” he says. “You know the material you like and you feel it, just as I know every feeling about war, the characteristics of it, the sounds of it, the smell of it.” (FT.com, 2013)
However, in the talk at The Photography Show, McCullin spoke about his plan to potentially go to the war abroad again in a few weeks. He had been given the opportunity to travel to take photographs by a fellow photographer, and spoke about him not being sure whether to turn it down. He spoke about how war photography is always part of you, and although he has seen some unnerving things, it will be part of his blood and is addictive; he keeps going back for more.
McCullin is such an inspirational speaker, and an amazing man, and to see someone so successful and passionate as his age is astounding. It has made me delve further into his work, and understand more about his practice.
FT.com, 2013, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8244a942-1648-11e3-a57d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3VTzySR3X
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