Reading and Research: BBC1 Imagine; McCullin

I have been a fan of Don McCullin for some time now and, in fact, was lucky enough to visit his exhibition at the National Media Museum at Bradford a few years ago. So, when I saw the 2012 documentary 'McCullin' was to be featured in the BBC1 series Imagine, introduced by Alan Yentob, it was a must see.

This documentary, by Jaqui and David Morris, lays bare MucCullin's addiction to danger and commitment to justice that lie at the heart of his work.  His huge success as a war photographer came at great personal cost.  The programme begins with his early beginnings in Finsbury Park where he escaped the gang culture he was brought up in through his photography.  He photographed his fellow gang members, 'The Governors'.  There was no beauty in what the gang was doing but he made beautiful photographs of them.  He made a very early trip to Berlin during the building of The Wall and took amazing photographs with very basic equipment, showing that it is the person behind the camera rather than the equipment that makes outstanding pictures.  On his return he managed to sell the images to The Observer who then sent him to cover other world crises.  In Cyprus he learnt a new trade and also about the price of human suffering.  He was sensitive and would put his camera down to help people in need.

In war zones, Don noticed that when he captured people in deep grief, they would often be turning their eyes skyward as if they could see God.  He compared it to Goya and the religious nature of great painters.  Harold Evans, editor of the Sunday Times 1967-81, remarks about one such image from Cyprus and says "That moment is so classic.  I call it one of the decisive moments in photography.  It combines news moments with compositional elements."  McCullin thinks that, as a photojournalist, it was important to be on the side of humanity.  He felt that was what he was meant to be doing.  Of his experiences in the Congo where he witnessed awful atrocities and executions, he recalls that although he had to take photographs he wanted to stop what was going on.  He loved photography but the horrors were too awful to live with.  "I don't just take photographs; I think."

When he returns to the UK he often went back to his roots and took made wonderful images of the homeless and down and outs in Finsbury Park, Aldgate and Whitechapel.  He calls it "Hogarthian" and these images form an important part of his portfolio,  He continued to work for four and a half years for The Observer before moving on to The Sunday Times who had the confidence to allow him to disappear for several weeks at a time and allow him to edit his own work.  They trusted him and he them.  He said that you can take amazing pictures but they still need to be presented in a way that the public can accept and understand.

 He continued to cover a wide range of assignments and became a self-confessed war junkie, although he felt that he was there to do a job and needed to get a message over.  Capt Myron Harrington of 5th Marines said of him that other photographers would snap and go but Don would stay with us for several days.  He became one of us.  It was at this time that he photographed the shell shocked marine in Viet Nam that is a suggested image in our project on writing analytically about a photograph.  Again he referred to the fact that when he became involved in a situation, it wasn't about photography, it was about humanity.  Harold Evans answers McCullin's question "Was it worth the risk?" by commenting that part of the success was the disenchantment of the American public for war.  That was down to photographers such as Don.  When interviewed by Parkinson, however, McCullin felt that older people were not affected by his work; they were fed up with war and had become blasé.  It was the very young people who cared about war; they were more interested in trying to do something about it.  He felt that he had a lot of freedom in Viet Nam to photograph everything.  He says that it couldn't be done today in Afghanistan, for instance.  The whole rule book had been rewritten and not in the favour of the photographer.  In fact, at the time of the Falklands he was barred from going.  Harold Evans says that it was "a crazy decision to keep Don McCullin off the boat with the excuse that it was full.  It seems to be saying your photography is so honest, so searing, so implicit with meaning that we cannot afford to take the risk of you exacting freedom of expression.  It was the most appalling decision and it's effect on Don McCullin was to seem to say, you have spent your life documenting things we don't think you should ever have documented, which was the same as saying 'why have you bothered to risk your life to try and tell the truth?'".

During his years with The Sunday Times he covered many assignments ranging world wide.  He continued to take staggering photographs whist at the same time never ceasing to be appalled at the horrors he witnessed.  Harold Evans says of him that he had a very sensitive feel for other people's suffering.  His consciousness told him that their story could only be told through photographs.  Unfortunately in 1981 The Thompson family sold the paper to Rupert Murdoch; Harold Evans left and Andrew Neil became the editor.  Harold Evans says they had lost their independence and the ability to tell the truth.  Don McCullin eventually left the Sunday Times because the new regime din't want any more wars in the magazine; it would be a magazine based on life and leisure in order to attract advertising.

Don McCullin is now 75 and with his remaining energy intends to attempt to eradicate the horrors of the past by photographing the English landscape - his heaven.  He still works in rich black and white.  Since he has stopped reporting from the front line he has used his reputation to support a number of charities and campaigning groups.  He received the CBE in 1993; the first photojournalist to gain the honour.  He still publishes his work and his latest book came out in 2010: Southern Frontiers; A Journey Across the Roman Empire.

References and Bibliography
All taken from Morris, J&D, McCullin, 2012, BBC1 Imagine 2013