Don McCullin

'I didn't choose photography, it seemed to choose me. but I've been loyal by risking my life for fifty years.' ~ Don McCullin. [Tate Britain, London. (5.02 - 06.05.2019)]

Don McCullin is an english, postwar photographer. He had really tough childhood which affected his adult life. He and his sister Marie were faced with evacuation and then they got separated. He wasn't able to graduate from school because he had to work to support his family. He grew up with gangsters and even a couple of murderes. His father died at a time when he needed him the most.

He started with photographing people who had been harshly treated in life and that's because he knew the feeling on his own. For him, it was a case of 'I've been there'. He once said: ‘Photography isn’t looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.’ His intuitive photographic style was quickly picked up by the press. Just after being hired by the Observer Magazine, he was sent to many places aroud the world to report everything what was going on. He found out that he was able to share other people's emotional experiences and silently transmit them. Throughout his career, he has documented events of international significance including conflicts in Vietnam, Lebanon, Cyprus and Biafra. However, only while documenting a period of violent political conflict between Greek and the Turkish Cypriots, when he put his life at risk, the beginnings of self-knowledge as a photographer appeared as well as the powerful sense of empathy for which his images are known. They are also definitely touching and lead to reflection.

After spending moths living with American soldiers in Vietnam, including a place portrayed in 'Full Metal Jacket' movie, directed by Stanley Kubrick, Don McCullin gave Kubrick his starting point for the atmosphere evoked by the film. His remarkable images taken there during during a key turning point in the Vietnam was, portray the city in ruins and the war's brutal impact on both soldiers and civilians.

At the end of his career, in order to escape from his memories of war, he engaged with traditions of still life photography. The escapism refreshed and renewed him.

His photojournalism played an important role in telling stories that had to be told. It created an awareness. You should always be given the opportunity in a democratic society to see the truth.

References

1. Don McCullin. Tate Britain, London. (5.02 - 06.05.2019)